The 2006 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

that was a part of the 2006-2007 bowl game schedule of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the fifth

Hawaii Bowl The Hawaii Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played in the Honolulu, Hawaii, area since 2002. The game was originally held at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii, a suburb of Honolulu, before moving to the Clarence T. C. Ching At ...

played, and was sponsored by

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an American international hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Cent ...

. It was played on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

2006, at

Aloha Stadium Aloha Stadium is a closed multi-purpose stadium in Halawa, Hawaii, a census-designated place that is a western suburb of Honolulu. It is the largest stadium in the state of Hawaii. , the stadium ceased fan-attended operations indefinitely, and ...

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. The game matched the Hawaii Warriors against the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

, and was televised on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Hawaii won the contest, 41–24, finishing the season with eleven wins, tying the school record for most wins in a season with the 1992 Rainbow Warriors team that went 11–2.

Background

This game received extra attention because Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was poised to set the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes in a season. Entering the game, Brennan had 53 touchdown passes, one short of

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

quarterback David Klingler's mark of 54 set in 1990. Brennan finished the game having completed 33-of-42 passes for 559 yards and five touchdowns, setting the new single-season record at 58. He shared MVP honors with wide receiver Jason Rivers, who tied a school mark with 14 receptions and set a record with 308 receiving yards, the most in a college bowl game since the NCAA began keeping official records in 1937.

Scoring summary

First Quarter

* ASU - Jesse Ainsworth 44-yard FG. (1:59). 3-0 ASU

Second Quarter

* HAW - Dan Kelly 42-yard FG. (12:35). 3-3 Tie * ASU - Brandon Smith 37-yard pass from Rudy Carpenter (Jesse Ainsworth kick). (5:21). 10-3 ASU

Third Quarter

* HAW - Jason Rivers 38-yard pass from Colt Brennan (Dan Kelly kick). (12:29). 10-10 Tie * HAW - Ryan Grice-Mullen 7-yard pass from Colt Brennan (Dan Kelly kick). (8:46). 17-10 HAW * HAW - Ryan Grice-Mullen 36-yard pass from Colt Brennan (Dan Kelly kick). (2:14). 24-10 HAW

Fourth Quarter

* HAW - Dan Kelly 43-yard FG. (13:04). 27-10 HAW * ASU - Ryan Torain 12-yard run (Jesse Ainsworth kick). (12:21). 27-17 HAW * ASU - Michael Jones 4-yard pass from Rudy Carpenter (Jesse Ainsworth kick). (10:25). 27-24 HAW * HAW - Davone Bess 21-yard pass from Colt Brennan (Dan Kelly kick). (5:16). 34-24 HAW * HAW - Jason Rivers 79-yard pass from Colt Brennan (Dan Kelly kick). (2:01). 41-24 HAW

Aftermath

* Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter was fired the month before the Hawaii Bowl, which served as his final game at ASU. Koetter was replaced in the offseason by

Dennis Erickson Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league. He was also the head coach at the University of ...

. Koetter was hired as the offensive coordinator for the NFL's

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. * Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was unsure of whether he would stay for his senior season at Hawaii or declare for the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. Brennan eventually declared for the draft, but did not sign with an agent, allowing him the opportunity to withdraw his name if he so chose. He eventually decided to withdraw from the draft and opted to return for his senior season. * At the end of the season, Hawaii was ranked #24 in the final

Coaches Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

and was one spot out of making the Associated Press final poll. This was the first time Hawaii finished the season ranked in the top 25 of a major poll since 1992, when the Warriors finished 20th in the AP Poll.

References

2006 Hawaii Bowl Results
from

. {{Hawaii Warriors bowl game navbox

Hawaii Bowl Arizona State Sun Devils football bowl games Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football bowl games

December 2006 sports events in the United States