Colt gets to go

This weekend will belong to Hawaii's Heisman candidate

» Hawaii wins over voter

» Final UH regular season football statistics

The team focus turns briefly to the individual for the Hawaii Warriors this weekend, as quarterback Colt Brennan heads to New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation ceremony.

The two-time WAC Offensive Player of the Year is among probably four finalists for college football's most prestigious individual honor.

Brennan has always preferred to talk about the team rather than any individual honors. When asked about the Heisman, the NCAA career leader in touchdown passes talks about how the recognition can help the UH program.

Brennan was sixth in the balloting last year and was not invited to the presentation.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is considered the front-runner to win the award, with Arkansas running back Darren McFadden running second.

Reports also surfaced last night that Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel would be invited to the ceremony.

Heismanpundit.com's final straw poll yesterday had Tebow first, McFadden second and Brennan third.

Brennan has a career completion percentage of 70.7, with 131 touchdowns. He also has rushed for 15 scores. This season, despite ankle and head injuries, he has completed 337 of 472 passes (71.4 percent), for 4,174 yards, and 38 touchdowns, with another eight scores rushing.

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Hawaii wins over voter

The Hawaii Warriors are clearly No. 1 to the vast majority of people in the 50th State.

But they're also at the top of the list for three voters this week, one in each of the major polls. Only one has a tie to UH and even that person -- New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme -- is a competitor of the Warriors.

Mumme's vote in the coaches' poll and retired sportswriter Larry Keech's in the Harris poll contributed to the 12-0 Warriors moving up to 10th in the BCS standings, cementing their spot in the Sugar Bowl.

The third No. 1 vote, that of El Paso (Texas) Times sportswriter Bret Bloomquist, did not affect the BCS. But it could have the most interesting long-term effect on the Warriors.

Bloomquist votes in the Associated Press poll of media members. The BCS national championship will be determined by the outcome of the game between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 LSU, Jan. 7, also in the Louisiana Superdome.

But the AP voters are not restricted, and can vote for anyone they want as No. 1 in their final poll.

Bloomquist gave Hawaii its first No. 1 vote ever in the AP poll. He said he plans to put the 10th-ranked Warriors in the top spot again in the final poll after it plays fourth-ranked Georgia (10-2) in the Sugar Bowl.

"I expect Hawaii to win," he said. "I think they could beat Ohio State. I think they can line up with anyone in the country. Their offense can score against anyone, and you win with quarterbacks."

Bloomquist said he didn't have UH very high in his rankings early in the season but, "once teams stared losing, I moved them up quickly."

The 41-year-old UTEP beat writer said he watched the entire games as Hawaii, the only undefeated team in the country, beat Nevada and Boise State, and he saw the end of the Washington game last week.

"I got to see a lot of highlights, too," Bloomquist said. "I do take schedules into account. But winning is certainly the biggest thing."

Bloomquist said he received four e-mails regarding his No. 1 vote for the Warriors. Three (two of them from Hawaii) applauded his choice. One criticized it.

This is Bloomquist's first year covering Division I college football, and his first year as an AP voter. The University of Texas graduate has been a full-time professional sportswriter the past 14 years.

He is also a Heisman Trophy voter. Bloomquist said he selected Florida's Tim Tebow first, Hawaii's Colt Brennan second and Arkansas' Darren McFadden third.

UH junior linebacker Solomon Elimimian said the Warriors appreciate the No. 1 votes and loftiest rankings in school history, but they're not the reason they play.

"It's humbling to know that they think we're that good," Elimimian said. "We are a great team, we played against Coach Hal Mumme, so he would know. At the same time I don't know how much we care. We know we have to win this upcoming game. (The BCS ranking) matters, but it doesn't. We did all we can do and we let the chips fall where they may."

If the Warriors beat the Bulldogs, does UH deserve a share of the national championship? With the game still nearly a month away, Elimimian wisely tiptoed around the question.

"Honestly I don't know. It's very complicated. A lot of people don't know how good a team we are," he said. " If we beat Georgia, more people will come around and understand that Hawaii is a great team. We know we're a great team, and we know Georgia is a great team."

Senior receiver Jason Rivers took a very humble approach when asked if UH should be No. 1 if it goes to 13-0 on New Year's Day.

"I would say no, because these other teams have been good for a long time," Rivers said. "We just started being good. Just like they paid their dues, we gotta pay our dues, too. You can't just come out of nowhere and go straight to the top. You gotta go through the ranks.

"At least some people are giving us respect."

UH coach June Jones said three No. 1 votes is nice, especially one from his colleague Mumme.

"Hal respects what we've done and how we've done it," Jones said of his fellow passing-game advocate.

Jones also deflected the question of deserving a share of the national championship with a win over Georgia.

"I don't have any feelings either way on that," he said. "We're just going to try to play our best. We'll have our hands full."

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Final UH regular season football statistics

Regular season statistics

TEAM STATISTICS

	HAWAII	OPP
FIRST DOWNS	554	290
Rushing	46.2	24.2
Passing	327	243
Penalty	53	95
RUSHING YARDAGE	949	1,580
Yards gained rushing	1,183	1,999
Yards lost rushing	234	419
Rushing attempts	261	460
Average per rush	3.6	3.4
Average per game	79.1	131.7
Touchdowns rushing	16	17
PASSING YARDAGE	5,402	2,607
Att-Comp-Int	606-424-19	247-245-19
Average per pass	8.9	6.1
Average per catch	12.7	10.6
Average per game	450.2	217.2
Touchdowns passing	50	15
TOTAL OFFENSE	6,351	4,187
Total plays	867	887
Average per play	7.3	4.7
Average per game	529.2	348.9
KICK RETURNS: No-Yds	54-1,307	85-1,972
PUNT RETURNS: No-Yds	22-303	14-250
INT. RETURNS: No-Yds	19-421	19-227
FUMBLES-LOST	27-10	25-9
PENALTIES-YARDS	80-771	74-627
PUNTS-AVG	32-1,288	68-2,774
TIME OF POSSESSION/GAME	27:47	32:21
3RD-DOWN CONVERSIONS	68/141	53/185
4TH-DOWN CONVERSIONS	9/18	18/30

Rushing

	G	Att	Net	Avg	TD	Long
Pilares	10	61	362	5.9	3	29
Wright-Jackson	9	33	219	6.6	2	47
Libre	3	22	183	8.3	0	44
Brennan	11	73	65	0.9	8	12
Funaki	5	11	59	5.4	0	20
Farmer	12	13	41	3.2	0	14
Laumoli	5	5	19	3.8	0	15
Graunke	7	21	11	0.5	3	20
Cox	5	4	9	2.2	0	6
Chopp	2	3	3	1.0	0	5
Grice-Mullins	12	2	2	1.0	0	5
Thomas	12	1	-3	-3.0	0	0
Total	12	261	949	3.6	16	47

Passing

	G	Att	Comp	Int	Yds	TD	Long
Brennan	11	337	472	14	4,174	38	67
Graunke	7	77	118	5	1,092	9	81
Funaki	5	10	15	0	136	3	32
Total	12	424	606	19	5,402	50	81

Receiving

	G	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Bess	12	101	1,213	12.0	12	48
Grice-Mullins	12	100	1,335	13.4	12	64
Rivers	11	82	1,069	13.0	13	72
Hawthorne	12	57	786	13.8	6	53
Pilares	10	24	241	10.0	1	41
Wright-Jackson	9	16	146	9.1	0	26
Lane	12	14	270	19.3	2	81
Farmer	12	7	78	11.1	1	20
Libre	3	6	61	10.2	0	17
Bain	8	5	73	14.6	1	32
Washington	8	3	51	17.0	1	19
Salas	6	3	35	11.7	1	24
Chopp	2	2	21	10.5	0	13
Cox	5	2	15	7.5	0	10
Medeiros	1	1	7	7.0	0	7
Graunke	7	1	1	1.0	0	1
Total	12	424	5,402	12.7	50	81

Total Offense

	G	Plays	Rush	Pass	Tot	Avg
Brennan	11	545	65	4,174	4,239	385.4
Graunke	7	139	11	1,092	1,103	157.6
Pilares	10	61	362	0	362	36.2
Wright-Jackson	9	33	219	0	219	24.3
Funaki	5	26	59	136	195	39.0
Libre	3	22	183	0	183	61.0
Farmer	12	13	41	0	41	3.4
Laumoli	5	5	19	0	19	3.8
Cox	5	4	9	0	9	1.8
Chopp	2	3	3	0	3	1.5
Grice-Mullins	12	2	2	0	2	0.2
Total	12	867	949	5,402	6,351	529.2

	TD	FG	1XP	2XP	Tot
Kelly	0	11	69	0	102
Rivers	13	0	0	0	78
Bess	12	0	0	0	72
Grice-Mullins	12	0	0	0	72
Brennan	8	0	0	0	48
Hawthorne	6	0	0	0	36
Lane	4	0	0	0	24
Pilares	4	0	0	0	24
Graunke	3	0	0	0	18
Wright-Jackson	2	0	0	0	12
Leonard	2	0	0	0	12
Mouton	2	0	0	0	12
Washington	2	0	0	0	12
Newberry	1	0	0	0	6
Farmer	1	0	0	0	6
Davis	1	0	0	0	6
Bain	1	0	0	0	6
Salas	1	0	0	0	6
Veikune	0	0	0	1	2
Total	75	11	69	1	554

Punting

	No.	Yds	Avg	Long
Grasso	32	1,288	40.2	51
Total	32	1,288	40.2	51

Punt Returns

	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Bess	16	169	10.6	0	19
Washington	4	102	22.5	1	80
Newberry	2	32	16.0	0	29
Total	22	303	13.8	1	80

Kick Returns

	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Lane	21	637	30.3	2	94
Mouton	11	332	30.2	1	90
Washington	9	137	15.2	0	28
Jones	6	126	21.0	0	27
Satele	3	41	13.7	0	21
Paepule	1	14	14.0	0	14
Robinson	1	0	0.0	0	0
Kafentzis	1	10	10.0	0	10
Smith	1	10	10.0	0	10
Total	49	1,193	24.3	3	94

TACKLES

	G	UT	AT	Tot
Elimimian	12	65	62	127
Leonard	12	50	50	100
Patek	12	31	36	67
Thomas	12	37	18	55
Newberry	12	31	20	51
Lewis	12	36	12	48
Kalilimoku	12	33	13	46
Noa	12	19	20	39
Veikune	12	21	12	33
Purcell	12	11	16	27
Mouton	10	16	9	25
Laeli	12	15	9	24
Soares	8	16	7	23
Fonoti	10	16	7	23
Paepule	12	16	5	21
Monteilh	8	9	10	19
Lafaele	11	11	7	18
Maka	8	12	5	17
Watson	12	12	4	16
Galdeira	12	9	4	13
Leonard	12	8	4	12
Saole	10	6	5	11
Robinson	8	9	1	10
Lau	11	10	0	10
Davis	10	6	2	8
Seti	12	2	6	8
Hawthorne	12	6	1	7
Allen-Jones	6	5	2	7
Smith	9	7	0	7
Keomaka	9	5	2	7
Kelly	12	5	1	6
Jones	10	6	0	6
Porlas	12	4	2	6
Satele	11	3	2	5
Kiesel-Kauhane	12	4	1	5
Pedersen	7	2	2	4
Savaiigaea	12	2	1	3
Farmer	12	2	1	3
Grice-Mullins	12	3	0	3
Lolotai	4	1	1	2
Kafentzis	9	1	1	2
Laumoli	5	2	0	2
AhSoon	12	2	0	2
Pilares	10	2	0	2
TEAM	11	2	0	2
Roberts	8	1	0	1
Estes	1	0	1	1
Viliami Nauahi	4	0	1	1
Rice	5	0	1	1
Pau	1	1	0	1
Brennan	11	1	0	1
Grasso	12	0	1	1
Ingram	12	0	1	1
Washington	8	1	0	1
Mahaley	1	1	0	1
Martinez	4	0	1	1
Total	12	576	367	943

Misc.

Sacks (No.-Yds.): Veikune 7-19, Noa 4.5-34, Fonoti 3-26, Kalilimoku 3-18, Purcell 3-18, Laeli 2.5-17, J.Leonard 2.5-10, Patek 2-22, A. Leonard 2-21, Soares 2-11, Elimimian 1.5-18, Lau 1-13, Newberry 1-7, Mouton 1-4, Maka 1-1, Lafaele 0.5-4, Savaiigaea 0.5-3. Total: 38-246.

Interceptions (No.-Yds.): A. Leonard 4-117, Newberry 4-98, Mouton 2-59, Lewis 2-33, Patek 2-17, Monteilh 2-13, Davis 1-57, Thomas 1-27, Jones 1-0. Total: 19-421.

Fumbles (Forced-Recovered): J. Leonard 3-0, Patek 1-9, A. Leonard 1-0, Lewis 1-0, Lafaele 1-0, Watson 1-0, Newberry 1-(-5). Total: 9-4.

Blocked kicks: Jones, J. Leonard.