Sugar Sugar, Heisman

The news faucet is gushing full-blast and all I have is a paper cup. Here is but a sample of the news from Georgia and rest of the nation.

First, some smack from a few Georgia papers...

From Travis Fain of The Telegraph in Macon, GA.

But since I doubt the BCS is looking for my opinion, let me close with this: I want Colt Brennan's head on a stick. I want that pretty boy Hawaii quarterback driven through the Superdome turf. I want perfection in all phases of the game this New Year's Day.

Destroy Hawaii. And then let this be known across the land: The Georgia Bulldogs will be staying in the national title conversation for many years to come.

And if you're not with us, then you'd better start running.

Sounds like a guy who plays too much Dungeons and Dragons.

From Christopher McIntosh of the Athens Exchange:

I do know two happy people on the Georgia side, however. Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown. They may run for a combined half mile against Hawaii's defense.

Ultimately, though, what does it prove? The number four team in the country, no SEC championship shot, and a JV national title game against a team that probably shouldn't even be in the BCS. Hell, even if we win, we may still end the year at number 4.

From Morgan Lee of AccessNorthGA.com.

And again, it’s not because the Bulldogs are headed to New Orleans. It’s because playing Hawaii is like picking a fight with the 90-pound weakling on the playground.

This is not really smack talk, just because we hear a version of this before every game.

Of the Warriors' offense, which averages over 46 points per game and boasts three 1,000-yard receivers, Georgia safety Kelin Johnson said, "To be honest, it better be your dream (to play against an offense like Hawai'i's). It's the opportunity to get more interceptions and more sacks because (Brennan) drops back about 45 times a game."

And now back to the non-smack articles:

Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this from Georgia coach Mark Richt about the fans traveling to the game.

Specifically, he was hopeful that fans will travel to New Orleans in record numbers and “make a statement” to the nation and the bowl system that Georgia is a force to be reckoned with at the ticket booth as well as on the field.

I found this interesting on a couple of levels. One, this came AFTER Georgia had already presold its entire allotment of tickets plus 5,000 extra — 22,500 tickets in total. With Hawaii not likely to bring a big following all the way from the big island, Richt envisions Georgia fans taking over the Superdome.

Challenge! But for the first day (or so) of ticket sales, the Advertiser declares:

University of Hawai'i season ticket holders bought about 5,000 tickets to the Allstate Sugar Bowl by the time the Stan Sheriff Center box office closed at 4 p.m. today — and through the UH athletic department's Web site, which operates around the clock.

Carter Strickland of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks to Colt Brennan about playing Georgia.

That bowl represents an opportunity to silence those critics, Brennan said.

"There is no doubt we've heard it all and we have fought through negative criticism" he said. "We really want to make a statement and get some respect. We realize the monster that is in front of us, but we can't be more thrilled for the opportunity that is in front of us."

Via SI, an AP article about Hawaii's selection to the Sugar Bowl.

From USA Today:

"This puts us on the map and says a lot about what we've been able to accomplish here," Jones said in a telephone interview before Sunday's Sugar Bowl press conference. "We've been to bowl games seven of the last nine years but never one like this. I'm really excited and proud for the entire state of Hawaii.

"Our kids have been on an unbelievable run and believe they can compete with anybody. Our team's success has allowed Colt Brennan a chance to win the Heisman Trophy, and that's a huge bonus."

Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register wonders why Hawaii isn't playing for a national championship.

In an AP article by Andrew Bagnato, a few words from Ikaika Alama-Francis.

Even Hawaii, which played a schedule ranked 117th of 119 by the NCAA, has its proponents. "We're the only 12-0 team in Division I-A, so how can we not be in the national championship game?" said former Hawaii defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis, now with the Detroit Lions. "I don't want to hear people blame our schedule, either."

Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times writes an article about why he voted Hawaii #1 in his final regular season AP poll.

Because I think Hawaii's the best team in the country, that's why.

Because I think if they got a chance to play Ohio State or Georgia or LSU, they'd beat them.

Because I think they are as good or better than Boise was last year, and I think the 2006 Oklahoma team is as good or better than Ohio State or any of the two-loss teams out there.

This is the year to give them a chance. This is the year when parity has reigned and it is time to see what Hawaii could do against the power brokers.

The only significant argument against a playoff is that an exciting regular season is more important than determining who the best team really is, so why not give the post-season its most exciting end and let Hawaii tee it for the title?

That didn't happen, of course.

From Ralph D. Russo of the AP:

Q: Did Hawaii deserve to get in?

A: Sure. The undefeated Warriors needed to finish in the top 12 and they came in 10th. They did what was asked of them. And beyond that, it's good to have Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia just for the curiosity factor. We'll find out once and for all if Colt Brennan and crew can hang with the big boys.

After a few weeks of bashing the Warriors, Dave Nemetz offers a mea culpa on the Bleacher Report.

With an empty fifth of Beam and the Saturday night crowds beckoning, I flipped off the TV and headed out to the bars, assuring myself that Washington had it in the bag.

And herein lies the underlying message of this turn of events, and perhaps the whole season:

Never, under any circumstances, head out for the bars when an undefeated team is playing with their season on the line.

Too many people shrugged off Hawaii this year, including myself (in an unfortunately very public way). Too many people ignored a team that tended not to play until after 11PM on the East Coast, and often took all four quarters to pull off each of their 12 victories.

But despite all that, these Hawaii Warriors didn't quit. They knew the odds were longer than a direct flight from JFK to Honolulu (if such a flight even exists), but they said to hell with it all, throwing up a big goose egg in the loss column and leaving it to the befuddled BCS voters and computers to make heads or tails of it all.

And just like they did against Fresno State, against San Jose State, and against Nevada, Hawaii came back against Washington—this one their biggest comeback of the year—and proved everyone wrong—again.

More love from the Baltimore Sun's Bill Ordine.

And returning to my favorite team of the season, Hawaii, anyone who watched the undefeated Warriors until 3:40 a.m. Eastern time Sunday morning (I did) saw a three-touchdown comeback against Washington. You can scoff that Hawaii struggled against the the lowly Huskies, but I'll remind the scoffers that the Warriors beat Washington by seven points while No. 7 USC (which argued it should play for the national title) defeated the Huskies by just three earlier in the year.

Adam Rank uses Hawaii as a blunt instrument to better bash LSU with, on AOL's Fanhouse.

All Hawaii has done is win all of their games. No campaigning. No begging. No press conferences. Hawaii has just gone out and won football games.

Weird, I know.

The knock against Hawaii is that they do not play anybody. Or at least that's the myth. The truth is that nobody wants to go over and play Hawaii. That's hard to fault the Warriors. Go play them if you have a problem with their schedule. But LSU probably can't get out of that commitment to play Bayou Banjo Tech. If you aren't willing to play the team, you can't complain about their schedule.

And while Hawaii was running the table, LSU was losing to mediocre teams like Arkansas who fired its coach after the season. LSU played most of its games at home. It played one tough road game this season, at Kentucky and they lost.

Hey, that's pretty funny.

Some very early predictions from:

SI's Cory McCartney, Georgia 38, Hawaii 27.

CFN's Pete Fiutak, Georgia 34, Hawaii 27

Omaha Newsstand's (?) Zachary Baehr:

Hawaii will crush Georgia

Hawaii is 8 to 10 point underdogs according to Las Vegas books.

Rivals.com Mike Huguenin ranks the Sugar Bowl at #3 in his rundown of all 32 bowls.

John Moss has the game at #2 on the Bleacher Report.

I was tempted to put this game at number one. I really was. Some have said this is the "real" championship game...I don't buy that, but it will be a great game regardless.

Rivals.com compares and contrasts each team in their respective BCS bowl matchups.

Here's a message to those still filling out their Heisman ballots, from Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch.

It says here that the Heisman Trophy ballots, to be filed by Wednesday, should show, in order: No. 1, Tim Tebow, quarterback, Florida, right; No. 2 Darren McFadden, running back, Arkansas; No. 3, Colt Brennan, quarterback, Hawaii.

Brennan has thrown 131 career TD passes, 10 more than anyone else in major college annals. The comeback he engineered against Washington late Saturday was phenomenal.

And from Adam Van Brimmer of the Savannah Morning News:

If I had a vote, I'd give it to Hawaii's Colt Brennan. His team won't play for the championship either, but at least he has a chance to lead the Warriors to the only undefeated season in Division I-A.

Plus, his performance Saturday night, leading Hawaii from 21 points down to defeat Washington in the final minute, was Heisman-esque.