2008 Sugar Bowl

The 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was the 74th Sugar Bowl. It was played on January 1, 2008, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl
BCS Bowl Game
74th Sugar Bowl
Hawaii Warriors Georgia Bulldogs
(12–0) (10–2)
10 41
Head coach: 
June Jones		 Head coach: 
Mark Richt
APCoachesBCS
101010
APCoachesBCS
445
1234 Total
Hawaii 3007 10
Georgia 1410143 41
DateJanuary 1, 2008
Season2007
StadiumLouisiana Superdome
LocationNew Orleans, Louisiana
MVPGeorgia DE Marcus Howard
FavoriteGeorgia by 9½[1]
National anthemBonerama
RefereeBrian O'Cain (Pac-10)
Halftime showBoth school bands, AllState Sugar Bowl Band
Attendance74,383[2]
PayoutUS$17 million per team[3]
United States TV coverage
NetworkFOX
AnnouncersThom Brennaman and Charles Davis[4]
Nielsen ratings7.9[5]

Because the SEC champion (LSU) was slated to participate in the BCS National Championship Game, the number-five Georgia Bulldogs were selected to host the number-ten, WAC champion Hawaii Warriors, the last undefeated major college football team going into the bowl season.[6]

The Warriors were only 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 qualified for the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and Utah made the same game two years earlier. Both teams won their respective games.

The final result was less exciting than the build-up. Georgia turned the lights out on Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl en route to an easy 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 4th. 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, rush for 17 yards. Brandon Coutu 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 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 Tyler Graunke to Ryan Grice-Mullen, 16 yards. PAT made by Dan Kelly. (10:38) 41-10 UGA[7]

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 following the 2002 season). Vince Dooley and Wally Butts 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. He signed a five-year contract.[8]

References
  1. Fiutak, Pete (December 27, 2007). "2008 Sugar Bowl - Georgia vs. Hawaii". Scout.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
  2. Thamel, Pete (January 2, 2008). "Georgia Runs Over Hawaii in Sugar Bowl, 41-10". New York Times. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
  3. "2007-2008 NCAA BCS Bowl Games and Payouts". www.new-orleans-resort.com. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  4. Fox, David (December 13, 2007). "Rivals.com Bowl Viewer's Guide". Rivals.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  5. Reardon, Dave (January 5, 2008). "SMU ponying up big bucks". honolulustarbulletin.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  6. The FOX BCS Selection Show on December 2, 2007
  7. NCAA Football Full Play-by-Play - Hawaii vs. Georgia Archived 2008-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2 January 2007.
  8. "Jones leaves Hawaii for SMU". ESPN.com. January 8, 2008. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
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