Brennan, who reaggravated his right ankle injury in practice Tuesday, saw it flare up again yesterday after being sacked midway through the first quarter.
Brennan had never thrown more than two interceptions in 29 previous games. He completed 30 of 49 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game with 5 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
“He may have to deal with that (the ankle) the whole year,” head coach June Jones said. “That’s the way it goes.”
Brennan said, “I tweaked it a little. I hate to make excuses, but I just didn’t step in as well and some of the passes were underthrown a little. A little better throws and they are touchdowns or big gains. It was a weird day.”
Quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said the injured ankle caused Brennan “not to be able to do some of the things he normally does as well. But it is something he’s going to have to work through and he’s a tough kid.”
Entries from September 2007
Will Colt play with ankle soreness for the rest of the season?
September 30, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Categories: Uncategorized
Colt vs. Idaho
September 30, 2007 · 2 Comments
Last year, Colt Brennan was a fantasy football stat-machine, setting records for most touchdown passes in a season, passer efficiency, and passing yards over two seasons, among others. Throughout his three years at Hawaii, Brennan has also minimized turnovers — his career record for INTs in a game was just two. (Brennan’s predecessor, Timmy Chang, has the career record for most interceptions).
So last night, when the Hawaii Warriors played the Idaho Vandals, we saw a side of Brennan that we’ve never seen before: a human side. Indeed, in 3.5 quarters of play, Brennan posted a career high five interceptions. Through four games (Brennan didn’t play last week), he now has 6 interceptions.
Will this hurt Brennan’s chances at the Heisman? Certainly it doesn’t help. But the Heisman is not voted on after week 5. And Brennan’s TD to INT ratio is still at an impressive 15:6.
The line: 30/49. 369 yards. 3 TD, 5 INTs. 1 rushing TD.
Categories: Stats
ESPN the Mag Cover Story on Colt
September 27, 2007 · Leave a Comment
You can read the piece online here.
It’s a touching story written by Chad Nielsen, and covers the concept of ‘ohana’ in Hawaii (a theme you mainlanders may remember from the Disney movie, ‘Lilo and Stitch.’).
Categories: Media Features
nfldraftdog.com prediction: colt picked 5th
September 24, 2007 · Leave a Comment
After Brohm (1), and Matt Ryan (2):
5. Minnesota: QB Colt Brennan, Hawaii2007 Draft Pick: RB Adrian Peterson.
The Vikings might be in deep trouble this year if Tarvaris Jackson doesn’t develop at quarterback. Brooks Bollinger is on the roster and last years opening game starter Brad Johnson is now in Dallas. Running back Adrian Peterson is another shoulder injury away from being on injured reserve. I think the Vikings will be solid on defense but will be boom or bust on offense.
Categories: Draft
Colt vs. Charleston Southern: None!
September 23, 2007 · 1 Comment
As you probably know, Colt Brennan did not play against Charleston Southern. Though Colt wanted to play, his ankle was not fully healed and thus, against a Division 1AA opponent, Jones opted to go with backup QB Tyler Graunke.
UH won the game, 66-10.
Despite not playing, Colt still has a strong showing in the national stats leaderboard:
Here’s how Brennan, who sat out with an injured right ankle, ranks:
— Points responsible for: No. 1 at 32.0. No. 2 is Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell at 30.0.
— Total offense: No. 2 at 432 yards per game. No. 1 is Harrell at 485.3.
— Passing (completions per game): No. 2 at 34.33. No. 1 Harrell at 41.50.
— Passing yards per game: No. 3 at 420.67. No. 1 is Harrell at 490.75.
— Passing efficiency: No. 6 at 185.4. No. 1 is Rutgers Mike Teel at 236.7.
— Total passing yards: No. 9 at 1,262. No. 1 is Harrell at 1,963.
Last year, Colt played in 13 regular season games. This year, he will likely only play in 11 regular season games.
Categories: Stats
Colt a ‘gametime’ decision for tomorrow
September 21, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Colt to start in tomorrow’s game against Division 1AA opponent Charleston Southern?
It’s a gametime decision, according to June Jones. Here’s the Advertiser’s Stephen Tsai:
June Jones said it will be a “game-time decision” on whether Colt Brennan will play against Charleston Southern.
Brennan wore shoulder pads, threw passes on the side and handed off exclusively during the 11-on-11 drills. But he did not attempt any passes during team workouts. He was limping.
Jones said Brennan’s sprained right ankle was still sore.
Jones said even if Brennan does not practice tomorrow, if he’s healthy on Saturday, he will play.
Noting Brennan was wearing a protective boot after practice, Jones said: “He’s good enough he can play in that boot.”
If Colt does not play, backup Tyler Graunke will probably play three quarters and, if Hawaii has a cushy lead, 3rd string QB Inoke Funaki will get time in the fourth. Even if Colt does start, and Hawaii takes a substantial lead in the first half, don’t expect Colt to play much in the 2nd half — if at all.
Categories: Uncategorized
Backing Up Colt
September 19, 2007 · Leave a Comment
If Colt can’t play (heaven forbid!), who would take Colt’s place?
Meet Tyler Graunke, Hawaii’s 2nd string QB. Graunke, an experienced backup who enters this season as a Junior, actually beat out Colt for the starting job back in 2005 — Colt’s first year at Hawaii. Both Graunke and Colt shared snaps, and eventually Colt took over the offense.
Graunke comes to Hawaii from Arizona’s Salpoint Catholic High School. While there, he broke the state record for career passing yards, made the all-city and all-state team, and also received the Tucson Citizen’s high school football player of the year award.
Graunke, who is generously listed at 6′0, put up impressive numbers in mop-up duty last year: 32/43 (74.4%) for 501 yards. Several throws were dropped by backup WRs.
This year, Graunke has struggled. He threw two picks against Division 1AA bottom-dweller Northern Colorado, but rebounded at the end of the UNLV game with an 81-yard TD strike. Next year it is widely expected that Graunke will retake the starting QB position. He’ll have his first challenge right away: Hawaii opens at Florida.
To learn more about Graunke, and his increased practice time this week because of a nagging injury to Colt (who is expected to start this Saturday), read Dave Reardon’s feature.
Categories: Uncategorized
Colt and Leinart; Colt sits out practice
September 18, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Categories: Media Features
Brennan Stats Update
September 17, 2007 · 1 Comment
BRENNAN NO. 2
Brennan is No. 2 in passing yardage, while the Warriors continued to lead the nation in passing offense in statistics compiled by the NCAA.
Brennan has 1,262 yards (420.67 average) in three games behind Graham Harrell of Texas Tech, who has 1,317 (439.00) in three games. Harrell has thrown for 14 touchdowns, while Brennan has 12.
Hawai’i leads the nation in passing offense with 494.7 yards per game, followed by Texas Tech with 479.3. UH is fifth in total offense with 554 yards per game. Louisville leads with 617 yards per game.
Brennan is No. 1 in points responsible for with 32 per game. He is No. 3 in completions per game with 34.33. Harrell is No. 1 with 40.
Brennan is seventh in passing efficiency with a 185.4 rating. Mike Teel of Rutgers is No. 1 with 236.7. He is No. 2 in total offense with 432.0 yards per game behind Harrell’s 432.7.
Also of note in the story: Brennan will likely not practice until Wednesday or Thursday to heal his injured ankle. Colt injured it during a Friday pass and catch with a WR. Though he is hobbled, Colt is likely to still start against Division 1AA school Charleston Southern. Don’t expect him to play all four quarters, though.
Categories: Stats
UH vs. UNLV
September 15, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Colt Brennan’s standard of super-efficiency continued at UNLV, where the Hawaii Warriors defeated the UNLV Rebels 49-14.
Colt’s line:
26-of-32 for 298 yards. 2 passing TDs.
Brennan also ran for 3 TDs.
“Hawaii coach June Jones removed Brennan after three quarters, two yards shy of extending his streak of 14 straight games with at least 300 passing yards.”
At one point in the game, Brennan was 12/13.
Oh yeah — he also played with a leg injury.
Next up for Hawaii — Charleston Southern, a Division 1AA foe. Brennan may get to rest that leg more …
Categories: Stats
Brennan WAC Player of the Week — Again
September 11, 2007 · Leave a Comment
As summarized by the Honolulu Star Bulletin:
UH quarterback Colt Brennan won his second consecutive Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award yesterday.
He completed 43 of 61 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns in the win at LaTech. He also rushed for a touchdown.
Brennan also threw his first interception of the season and fumbled a wet ball. There was also a fumbled exchange between him and Wright-Jackson.
“You never like turnovers, of course. We were in the hole from the get-go, and there’s a lot to be said about how we kept battling and balling all game,” Brennan said. “We could’ve given up lots of times.”
Brennan may not be on the WAC list again soon, though — Brennan has said he’d prefer if his teammates, such as WR Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullins and Jason Rivers, among others, get their share of awards, too.
Categories: Awards
Hawaii vs. La Tech; Line Score
September 8, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Hawaii pulled a squeaker of a win against WAC opponent Louisiana Tech, 45-44, in overtime.
LTech, an underrated team with a new head coach, drove against Hawaii’s defense and took advantage of numerous Hawaii turnovers.
Colt’s line for the game: 43/61 (70%), 548 passing yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT.
Categories: Stats
PTI on Colt: Better than Brohm
September 7, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Categories: Quotes about Colt · Video
CFN: Brennan is early Heisman front-runner
September 7, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Pete Fiutak of College Football News writes “This isn’t a ranking of the best players or top NFL prospects. This is an attempt to put the finger on the pulse of the Heisman chase. So without further ado, here are the current favorites AT THE MOMENT.”
And The Current Leader In The Clubhouse Is …
QB Colt Brennan, Sr., Hawaii
Last Week: 34 of 40 for 416 yards and six touchdowns, and 23 rushing yards, in the first half of a 63-6 win over Northern Colorado.
Think of it this way — who wins the 2006 Heisman if the voting was done after the bowls (like it should be)? Troy Smith probably doesn’t win after the way he played against Florida. Darren McFadden is out after the loss to Wisconsin. Mike Hart doesn’t win after losing to USC. Brady Quinn is out after the LSU loss. John David Booty and JaMarcus Russell would be in the discussion, but Brennan, after throwing for 559 yards and five scores in a bowl win over Arizona State, would have probably gotten it.
After bombing away last year for 5,549 yards and 58 touchdowns with only 12 interceptions (and adding 366 rushing yards and five scores), while completing 73 percent of his passes, the buzz is there that’ll make everyone pay attention to him all year. His numbers will be too astronomical to ignore.
Categories: Awards
Colt Wins AT&T and ESPN All-American Player of the Week (Week1)
September 6, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Congrats to Colt, who won the AT&T and ESPN All-American Player of the Week for his performance against Northern Colorado. The award is “chosen by the College Football Fan each week during the season. ESPN analysts will select the 4 candidates based on their performance on the gridiron and then it’s up to the fans to select the All-America Player of the Week.”
The website for the player award is http://www.espnallamerica.com/
Categories: Awards
PTI’s Dan Le Batard: Colt ‘best QB in the country’
September 4, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Tony Kornheiser and Dan Le Batard hosted this Tuesday’s Pardon the Interruption. Here’s how part of the conversation went:
Dan Le Batard: This is the best quarterback in the country. This is the best pro material in the country. I mean, that is an amazing first half, doesn’t matter who you’re doing it against.
Tony Kornheiser: He was 34-40. 34-40. Here’s what I wonder, June Jones can’t get back in the NFL as a head coach?
Dan Le Batard has written for the Miami Herald, and hosts a sports radio talk show in Miami. He’s also a frequent guest/host on ESPN properties.
You can hear the entire episode here. The remarks about Colt come about 16:15 into the episode.
Categories: Quotes about Colt
Colt: Best in the country
September 4, 2007 · Leave a Comment
“With no apologies to Colt McCoy, the best quarterback in the country, named Colt (Brennan), will bring his air show to Ruston on Saturday evening.” Jimmy Watson, Shreveport Times.
Categories: Quotes about Colt
Yahoo! Sports: Colt comes out firing
September 4, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Yahoo Sports writes on Colt and his NFL prospects:
Hawaii senior quarterback Colt Brennan rolled out the first of what could be many unbelievable statistical performances last weekend against Northern Colorado.
He passed for 416 yards and six touchdowns, while completing 34 of 40 passes, including two or three drops, in the first half of a 63-6 win. Coach June Jones might have tried to call off the dogs, but at this pace Brennan will surpass 60 touchdown passes on the season to go along with roughly 5,000 yards.
He has a quick release, excellent arm strength and puts most of his balls right on the mark. Negatives are that he is somewhat slim-framed and isn’t playing in a pro-style attack. NFL teams will wonder what type of footwork he will have under center and if he can be an effective deep-ball passer at the next level.
Brennan is using his final year of eligibility to work on his leadership and intangibles. Fellow players say he is now a more vocal leader and has very good command of the huddle. He might still be seen by NFL evaluators as a product of the Hawaii system, but Jones considers him the best QB he has ever coached. There is a chance that some NFL team will try to draft Brennan and bring Jones with him as offensive coordinator.
Categories: Draft
Video: Colt on Sportscenter’s Top 10; College Football Live
September 4, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Categories: Video
Colt Week 1 Honors
September 3, 2007 · Leave a Comment
After Colt’s near perfect week one performance against Northern Colorado, Colt received the following honors today:
Categories: Awards
ESPN.com on Colt
September 2, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Ivan Maisel on ESPN.com on Colt and UMichigan:
2. Colt Brennan threw for six touchdowns well after midnight ET in Hawaii’s 63-6 defeat of Division I-AA Northern Colorado. You do remember how the game came about: Hawaii offered to play Saturday on the road against a highly ranked opponent six time zones away. Michigan opted for the safe harbor of Appalachian State.
And here’s ESPN research:
In case you missed it — and with a midnight ET kickoff on Oceanic Cable Pay-Per-View, we’re guessing you did — Colt Brennan continues to make the case for pencil-written record books. Will there be anything left for this guy to break by the last month of the season? After setting the NCAA record for TD passes (58) and passing efficiency (186.0) last season, the Hawaii quarterback started 2007 by throwing for 416 yards and six TDs before something finally stopped him. That something wasn’t Northern Colorado. That something was halftime. By then, Brennan already had racked up his 15th career 400-yard game, increasing his own Division I-A record. By then, he already had broken his own school mark for yards in a half. Heck, by then he already had become the nation’s leading passer for the weekend.
But that’s not all. By throwing those six touchdowns, he brought his career total to 99 and tied Matt Leinart — the guy Brennan once backed up at Mater Dei High School in California — for sixth on the all-time list, passing Brady Quinn, Phillip Rivers and Kliff Kingsbury along the way. In fact, it was a rough night all around for Mr. Kingsbury. The former Texas Tech and current Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback also saw his single-game record for completion percentage (minimum 40 attempts) vanish from the history books, replaced by Brennan’s 34-of-40 (85.0%) performance against the Bears.
And even though he did sit out the entire second half, don’t take that as an indication Brennan won’t be given plenty of opportunities to keep climbing the record charts. Up 35-0 midway through the second quarter, Hawaii elected to go for it on fourth down at the Northern Colorado 10. Hmmm. In addition, the nine running backs listed on the Hawaii roster combined for a whopping two carries in a game decided by 57 points (63-6). Aloha means goodbye running game, hello Heisman run. So take some afternoon naps, America. Start chugging down some energy drinks. Do whatever it takes. If you’re a college football fan, what’s going on out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is not something to sleep on.
Categories: Quotes about Colt · Stats
Modesto Bee Editor: Colt for Heisman
September 2, 2007 · Leave a Comment
From Richard T. Estrada, the Modesto Bee’s sports editor:
There is no better college football player this year than Colt Brennan, though the big-time, East Coast-biased writers often ignore his existence because he plays for Hawaii and takes snaps in a spread offense that is designed to tire the defense into submission.
There is no question he is the best quarterback — NFL scouts have already tabbed him as a legitimate prospect, so don’t give me no smack about his stats are the result of a gimmick offense — after throwing for 58 TDs last season. He already holds 18 NCAA passing records.
He’s a California boy, graduating from Mater Dei, and broke onto the national scene by throwing for 515 yards and seven TDS against New Mexico State in October of 2005. He led the nation in passing efficiency last year (182.8 rating), after completing 72 percent of his passes.
He could have declared for the NFL draft after last season, but he showed a commitment to his team and dedication to his craft by staying another year.
No doubt, if the Heisman is supposed to go to the nation’s top college player, you can send Brennan his ticket to the December ceremony and tell him to bring an extra bag — because he’s taking the trophy home.
Categories: Quotes about Colt
Brennan adds new records
September 2, 2007 · Leave a Comment
Courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser, Colt, in his last game, broke or tied the following UH records:
Brennan, who broke or tied 41 school records last season, added more to his collection last night, including:
Most passing yards in a half, breaking the old mark of 389 he set against Arizona State in last year’s Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl.
Most completions (31) in a half, breaking the previous mark of 29 set by Tim Chang in 2003.
Most completions in a quarter (19 in the first quarter), topping the old record of 15 held by three other quarterbacks. Brennan also tied the school record for most touchdowns in a quarter with four in the first, and most touchdowns in a half with six.
He now has 99 career touchdowns, which is tied for sixth place with former USC quarterback Matt Leinart on the NCAA career list. Former Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer is first with 121.
Categories: Stats
Colt vs. Northern Colorado
September 1, 2007 · Leave a Comment
UH vs. Northern Colorado.
#23 HAW (1-0) - 63
NCOL (0-1) – 6
Northern Colorado is a struggling team, and it showed on defense and offense.
With that being said, how did Colt fare against one of the worst defenses in Division 1AA?
34/40 = 85%
Pass yards = 416
TD = 6
It should be noted further that Colt played only one half.
With an 85% completion rate, and 6 touchdowns, in college football, it doesn’t get any closer to near-perfect efficiency than that. To be sure, this wasn’t a game against a quality opponent. Yet if Saturday’s games taught us anything, a game against a Division 1AA team is still a college football game. Just ask Chad Henne, who went 19/37 with 1 pick in Michigan’s loss to Appy State.
Next week Hawaii plays WAC opponent Louisiana Tech on the road.
Categories: Stats
Lee Corso picks Colt for Heisman
September 1, 2007 · 1 Comment
You can see the video of it on the middle right hand part of the page.
Rough quote: “Cinderella. Hawaii wins every football game … I know he plays late at night … but remember, Andre Ware won the Heisman and didn’t play on national TV. Colt Brennan, Heisman trophy winner.”
By the way, with the big UM – Appy State upset, Chad Henne and Mike Hart may just be out of the Heisman race.
Categories: Media Features · Quotes about Colt
