GameDay: Hawaii Bowl

The Hawaii Bowl is finally here! The Warriors will be taking on the Arizona State Sun Devils in a few hours. There will be no liveblogging today, but the game will be on ESPN and you can always follow the live stats online via GameTracker.

Stephen Tsai writes that the numbers are good.

Dan Morrison, who coaches the UH quarterbacks, has said Brennan's numbers don't make sense. A quarterback isn't supposed to lead the nation in passing yards and passing efficiency, Morrison noted, much like a basketball player isn't supposed to lead in 3-point attempts and field-goal accuracy.

"That's not supposed to happen," Morrison said.

And it hadn't happened previously at UH. Former UH quarterback Tim Chang's best pass-efficiency rating was 135.4 — 47.4 points lower than Brennan's rating this season. Chang, who holds the NCAA record for most passing yards in a career, threw for 4,474 yards in 14 games in 2002.

Former UH quarterback Nick Rolovich, who was widely praised for a breakout season in 2001, had an efficiency rating of 150.5.

"Colt's special," Morrison said. "He's just a very accurate passer."

Dave Reardon writes a great profile of Colt Brennan and writes about his draft chances.

Some scouts say Brennan would be picked in the first or second round of the draft. Brennan said he loves UH, but that would tempt him to leave Manoa a year early. "I love Hawaii, the season we had this year, the fun we had . I gotta make sure when this season's over I sit down and look at everything and I make the right decision for me and also the school.

"Who knows if it's going to be a tough decision? It might be real easy: 'I'm coming back, because they're not picking me in any of the first couple rounds.' You never know. ... I'll do all the things I need to do to figure out what's best."

Stay Colt, stay! No stay go! Listen to David Norrie. UPDATE: Actually, don't listen to Norrie. He was slandering the Warriors during the ESPN broadcast, implying that UH plays dirty and assuming the worst about the players and the team.

Quarterback Colt Brennan could help himself considerably by returning to the University of Hawai'i for his senior year, ESPN analyst David Norrie said.

Norrie, a former UCLA and New York Jets quarterback, will be the analyst on today's ESPN showing of the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

Speculation is that today's game against Arizona State could be the last college appearance for Brennan, a redshirt junior, who has the option of bypassing his senior year to declare eligibility for the NFL draft.

"I personally feel, after watching him play and also visiting with the coaches, that he would really benefit from an additional year (at UH) in terms of his draft status and also his development as a quarterback," Norrie said. "I think there are some things that he needs to get done physically. I think he needs to get stronger. The coaches talk about him continuing to work in the weight room to get an NFL body. It is a 16-game (NFL) schedule and you take a lot of pounding at that level."

Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes a great profile of Warriors backup receiver Mike Washington.

"Still to this day, I can't believe I'm here," Washington says. "The campus is so nice, palm trees everywhere. The sun's always shining. You can go behind campus, there's this little waterfall. ... A couple of people back home tell me they wish they were here. I rub it in their face a little bit."

A reserve sophomore receiver, Washington chose Hawaii over California because he loved coach June Jones' wide-open offense -- and because his recruiting trip to the university on Oahu made a mind-blowing first impression.

Oahu is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands, has 71 percent of the state's population and includes gems such as Honolulu and Waikiki. "Magnum, P.I." and "Hawaii Five-O" were filmed there. So is "Lost."

Born in Aliquippa the son of an Army man, Washington has lived in all kinds of places -- Germany, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico and South Carolina -- but he'd never seen a place like this.

And Steve DeShazo of The Free Lance-Star writes a great profile of Nate Ilaoa.

While junior quarterback Colt Brennan (whose 53 touchdown passes are one shy of David Klingler's NCAA single-season record) gets most of the headlines, Ilaoa is more of an unsung hero.

He's 12th in the nation in all-purpose yards (139.5 per game) and ninth in scoring (9.0 points per game), with a shot at a 1,000-yard rushing season and Hawaii's single-season mark for TDs (18). In fact, Davis said their teammates voted Brennan and Ilaoa co-MVPs.

"Nate gives us one more big weapon," Davis said. "His ability allows us to be a better football team. He's done some good things for this offense. He makes the big plays. He'll make this guy miss, that guy miss."

Crap, there are a bunch more Star-Bulletin and Advertiser articles to read through, but I just realized I have to be somewhere 30 minutes ago. Click through to the stories to find more Hawaii Bowl previews, profiles, etc. My apologies! I'll come back to update later on.

GO WARRIORS!!!!