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Brennan, Hawaii survive late charge by Fresno State

Nov 11, 2007 - 8:50 AM HONOLULU (Ticker) -- Hawaii continues to move along quietly.

Colt Brennan tied the NCAA record for touchdown passes before leaving late in the fourth quarter as the 14th-ranked Warriors posted a 37-30 triumph over Western Athletic Conference rival Fresno State on Saturday.

Brennan's five-yard pass to Davone Bess in the second quarter helped the 24-year-old signal-caller tied Ty Detmer on the NCAA's all-time list with 121 TD passes.

However, Brennan was unable to stick around to break the record after taking a hit from linebacker Marcus Riley on a third-down scramble in the fourth. He was down on the field motionless for several minutes before being helped to the sideline.

"(Colt) is fine," Warriors coach June Jones said. "He'll be ready for the next game. I just talked to Colt and he said he is ready to play right now."

"I saw the hit on Colt, I knew it wasn't good," Hawaii's Ryan Grice-Mullen said. "Not just talking about football, even if a family member went down, you never wish that on anyone both sides of the ball. Fresno showed class, especially their trainers, who were on the scene quickly."

Brennan went 28-of-39 for 396 yards and two TDs, including an impressive 67-yard strike to Jason Rivers to open the scoring with 13:44 left in the opening quarter. He also ran for a three-yard score at 9:46 of the period to give the Warriors (9-0, 6-0 WAC) a 21-0 cushion.

Leon Wright-Jackson ran for 65 yards and a score and Grice-Mullen caught nine passes for 128 yards for Hawaii, which registered 549 total yards of offense.

"We rushed the ball pretty well," Jones said. "Fresno didn't do anything that we didn't know they were going to do. Overall, we played good enough to win the game."

Bulldogs quarterback Tom Brandstater also was stellar in this one, completing 15-of-26 attempts for 209 yards and three touchdowns.

"We had three dropped balls, a fumble and a late hit," Fresno coach Pat Hill said. "We just didn't get it done, but our guys are fighters. Most teams would have folded. We grew some. I just wish we could have started faster. It was just one of those games. Bottom line we came out one touchdown short."

Brandstater's second fourth-quarter TD toss to Marlon Moore drew Fresno State within 37-30 with 1:34 remaining.

The Bulldogs (6-4, 5-2) had a chance to get back the ball, but the Warriors recovered an onsides kick to seal the victory as they remained one of the last two unbeaten teams in the nation.

Clifton Smith carried 17 times for 101 yards for Fresno State.