Video: Colt Brennan's record-breaking 2006 Hawai'i Bowl performance against Arizona State
Island legend.
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Whenever most people talk about the golden age of Hawai'i Football, they tend to spend most of their time on 2007 - and with good reason. The '07 Rainbow Warriors went 12-0 during the regular season, won the WAC Title, achieved their highest in-season (10th) and post-season (19th) AP Poll rankings ever, had the third-place Heisman finisher in QB Colt Brennan, and crashed the BCS party by playing in the Sugar Bowl. Losing 41-10 to Georgia once they got there doesn't take away from what is the most magical season in program history. The glow of 2007 obscures just how great the Rainbow Warriors also were in 2006, though.
Thanks to second-year QB Brennan chasing the single-season passing touchdowns record while leading the nation's highest-scoring offense (46.9 points per game), Hawai'i vaulted themselves back into the national conversation for the first time in at least a half decade. The Rainbow Warriors went 10-3 in the regular season, despite a tough schedule that included a road trip to Alabama, a date at eventual undefeated, Fiesta Bowl-winning Boise State, plus two other power conference showdowns against strong Purdue (8-6) and Oregon State (10-4) squads. For all the criticism they'd face in 2007 about a weak schedule, 2006 Hawai'i went through about as much of a gauntlet as a WAC team from that era could. I don't think it's wild to say the 2006 team is better, even though they had two more losses. In an era where voters and fans alike had little respect for the WAC, Brennan's 53 TD passes and ten team wins earned him a sixth-place Heisman finish. (He probably should've been top three, but that's asking a lot of 2006 Heisman voters.)
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Regardless, Brennan and Hawai'i were at least on the national college football radar by the time the regular season ended. A Hawai'i Bowl matchup with Arizona State gave them a national stage to show those unfamiliar what they could do, while building hype for what they could be in 2007. That's exactly what they did, exploding for 38 second half points in a 41-24 win. Brennan unsurprisingly played a starring role, throwing for 559 yards and five touchdowns - setting the FBS single-season passing TD mark (58). His performance secured Hawai'i's second-ever 11-win season, while also launching the hype machine for himself and the program for 2007. It's a moment in time that I won't say is forgotten, but it doesn't get the credit it deserves for being the springboard that launched a cult-favorite player, and a year that's looked upon fondly almost 20 years later.
