NEW ORLEANS – The clock struck midnight on Cinderella Hawaii.
Actually, the game was decided long before that, even though it dragged into the early morning Wednesday as fifth-ranked Georgia pummeled the Warriors, 41-10, in the Sugar Bowl.
Fourth-ranked Georgia – an SEC power that might be the hottest team in the country – unmasked every flaw in the previously unbeaten WAC champs, who were making their first appearance in a BCS bowl game.
The Bulldogs (11-2), who set a school record for points scored in a bowl, also made a statement about their perceived snub by the voters and computers, who left them out of the national title game.
Boise State’s 43-42 overtime victory against Oklahoma in last year’s Fiesta Bowl made for a fairy tale moment, but the revolution to make mid-major schools an equal partner in the BCS looks like it died here after just one year.
The Dawgs’ junkyard defense saw to that, completely neutralizing Hawaii’s All-American quarterback Colt Brennan, who Warriors’ coach June Jones claimed was the best player in college football.
Brennan threw three interceptions, was sacked eight times and fumbled twice before he was mercifully taken out in the fourth quarter.
“We knew coming in that they were probably the best defense we had ever seen,” Brennan said. “We just couldn’t get anything going. We had a lot of drives that didn’t go anywhere. It wasn’t a question of x’s and o’s. They were just winning every battle.”
Brennan, who finished third in the Heisman balloting, did manage to complete 22 of 38 passes for 169 yards, but never came close to generating the type of offense that his team needed. Hawaii averaged 46.2 points during its 12 victories this season.
In what may have been the defining moment of the long night, Brennan was pummeled by linebacker Marcus Howard, causing a fumble that Howard recovered in the end zone to put Georgia ahead, 31-3, with 8:57 to play in the third quarter.
Howard, who had three sacks, two forced fumbles and a tipped ball that led to an interception, spent much of his evening harassing Brennan in the Hawaii backfield. He would have preferred to be on the same field next week, when LSU plays Ohio State for the national championship.
“Definitely,” Howard said. “I feel like we’re the No. 1 team in the country.”
Georgia had hopes of playing for the title when the top two teams in the BCS rankings lost on the final day of the regular season. But the Bulldogs, who didn’t even make the SEC championship game, were denied and had to settle for the Sugar Bowl.
“We just wanted to play as hard as we could,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “We were just glad to be in this game.”
There is a huge talent gap between these two programs. Georgia is capable of winning the national championship. Tenth-ranked Hawaii, which had no signature victories other than Boise State, looked lost in the surroundings, leading Georgia fans in the sellout crowd of 74,383 to taunt Hawaii fans with chants of “overrated.”
The Dawgs put this one away with methodical efficiency, unleashing their devastating tailback combo of senior Thomas Brown (19 carries, 74 yards, 1 TD) and redshirt freshman Knowshon Moreno (9 carries, 60 yards, 2 TD).
Moreno, a former Middletown South N.J. star who is the second all-time leading rusher in New Jersey scholastic history with 6,264 yards, is already starting to evoke comparisons to the immortal Herschel Walker at Georgia. He scored on runs of 17 and 11 yards in the first quarter to set the tone for this rout.
“One of the things we kind of focus on is Knowshon and myself staying fresh all four quarters,” Brown said. “We like to roll in and out of there every five or six plays. That way, when we’re deep in the fourth quarter and have to run extensively, we have a fresh set of legs like we did in the first quarter.”
Georgia rebounded from two early season losses to South Carolina and Tennessee to win seven straight games. Moreno, who got his first start in the sixth game of the season against Vanderbilt, strung together five straight 100-yard rushing performances, including 188 yards on 33 carries during an impressive 42-30 victory over defending national champion Florida.
His success already has generated some early Heisman buzz for next season.
“He looks the part,” said quarterback Matthew Stafford.
