The 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was the 74th Sugar Bowl. It was played on Tuesday January 1, 2008, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
The Warriors were the third team not in any of the six BCS conferences (not counting major independent Notre Dame) to play in a BCS game. Boise State qualified for the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and Utah made the same game two years earlier. Both teams won their respective games.
Georgia earned a 41–10 win. It was already a one-sided affair at halftime with a 24–3 score and it was 41–3 at one point early in the fourth quarter. The closest Hawaii got was 7–3 after a Dan Kelly field goal.
Teams Because the SEC champion (LSU) was slated to participate in the BCS National Championship Game, the number-five Georgia Bulldogs were selected to host the number-ten, WAC champion Hawaii Warriors, the last undefeated major college football team going into the bowl season.The FOX BCS Selection Show on December 2, 2007 This was the first meeting between the two teams.
Hawaii
The Hawaii Warriors, led by 9th-year head coach June Jones, finished the regular season 12–0, the program's first perfect regular season, winning the WAC title for the 3rd time in program history, and the Warriors' first ever outright conference title. The Warriors were led by senior quarterback Colt Brennan, who broke several FBS records throughout the season, including career passing touchdowns and total career touchdowns. Hawaii started the season ranked no. 23 in the AP poll and only played one ranked team in the regular season, defeating no. 17 Boise State 39–27 in the penultimate game of the regular season.
Georgia
The Georgia Bulldogs, led by 7th-year head coach Mark Richt, finished the regular season 10–2 (6–2 in SEC play), finishing tied for 1st in the SEC's Eastern Division, but lost out on an appearance in the SEC Championship Game to Tennessee due to tiebreakers. The Bulldogs started the season ranked no. 13 in the AP poll, but a 12–16 loss to South Carolina in week 2 saw the Bulldogs fall to no. 23. Georgia would crack the top ten following a 42–30 victory over then-no. 9 Florida in week 8. Coming into the Sugar Bowl, Georgia was ranked no. 4 in both the AP and Coaches poll.
Game summary
Statistics HAWUGA First downs 20 19 Total yards 306 335 Rushing yards -5 160 Passing yards 311 175 Passing: comp–att–int 35–57–4 14–27–1 Turnovers 6 1 Time of possession 30:39 29:21 Team Category Player Statistics Hawaii Passing Colt Brennan 22/38, 169 yards, 3 INT Rushing Kealoha Pilares 7 rushes, 26 yards Receiving Jason Rivers 10 receptions, 105 yards Georgia Passing Matthew Stafford 14/23, 175 yards, TD, INT Rushing Thomas Brown 19 rushes, 73 yards, TD Receiving Mohamed Massaquoi 5 receptions, 54 yards
Aftermath With Hawaii's defeat, the 2007-08 college football season ended with no undefeated teams, something that had not happened since the 2003-04 season. This is also the second time in the BCS era that this has occurred.
Georgia DE Marcus Howard was named the MVP of the Sugar Bowl Game, the first time in its history that a purely defensive player has received the honor.
With the win, Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt became the first head coach in Georgia history to win more than one Sugar Bowl (his previous victory was over Florida State University following the 2002 season). Vince Dooley and Wally Butts won one Sugar Bowl each, with Dooley's only win securing the 1980 National Championship. Dooley lost four other Sugar Bowl games.
On January 8, Hawaii Head Coach June Jones left Hawaii to become the head coach at Southern Methodist University. He signed a five-year contract.
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