The 2008

Allstate The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Northfield Township, Illinois, near Northbrook since 1967. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993 but still partially owned by S ...

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

. It was part of the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, including ...

(BCS) for the

2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 30, 2007 and ended on De ...

, and was the 74th

. It was played on January 1, 2008, in the

Louisiana Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. Because the SEC champion (LSU) was slated to participate in the

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

, the number-five

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

were selected to host the number-ten, WAC champion Hawaii Warriors, the last undefeated major college football team going into the bowl season. 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 Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

qualified for the

2007 Fiesta Bowl The 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played as part of the 2006–2007 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was played on January 1, 2007, at its new venue, the Universi ...

, and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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.

Scoring summary

Pre-game

*Hawaii wins the toss, selects to receive.

First Quarter

*UGA Touchdown, by

Knowshon Moreno Knowshon Rockwell Moreno (born July 16, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Georgia and was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He also pl ...

, rush for 17 yards.

Brandon Coutu Brandon Coutu (born September 29, 1984) is a former American-football placekicker. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia. He was born in Lawrenceville, Georgi ...

makes PAT. (9:49) 7-0 UGA *UH Field goal, by Dan Kelly, 42 yards. (4:26) 7-3 UGA *UGA Touchdown, by Moreno, rush for 11 yards. Coutu makes PAT. (1:02) 14-3 UGA

Second Quarter

*UGA Field goal, by Coutu, 52 yards. (9:36) 17-3 UGA *UGA Touchdown, 11-yard pass from

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, where he was a first-team All-American, and was selected f ...

to Sean Bailey, Coutu makes PAT. (8:05) 24-3 UGA

Third Quarter

*UGA Fumble recovery, touchdown by Marcus Howard. Coutu makes PAT. (8:57) 31-3 UGA *UGA Touchdown, by Thomas Brown, 1-yard rush. Coutu makes PAT. (1:40) 38-3 UGA

Fourth Quarter

*UGA Field goal, by Coutu, 45 yards. (14:37) 41-3 UGA *UH Touchdown, pass from

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Ryan Grice-Mullen Ryan Grice-Mullen (born September 12, 1986) is a former gridiron football wide receiver. He was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Hawaii. Grice-Mullen has also been a member of the Chi ...

, 16 yards. PAT made by Dan Kelly. (10:38) 41-10 UGA

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 Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

following the 2002 season).

Vince Dooley Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 t ...

and

Wally Butts James Wallace Butts Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140–8 ...

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 , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

. He signed a five-year contract.

References

{{Hawaii Warriors bowl game navbox

Sugar Bowl Georgia Bulldogs football bowl games Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football bowl games 2008 in sports in Louisiana 21st century in New Orleans January 2008 sports events in the United States