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Brennan, Warriors hold off gritty Bulldogs in win

Sep 9, 2007 - 6:07 AM RUSTON, Louisiana (Ticker) -- Heisman Trophy hopeful Colt Brennan lit up the skies once again.

Brennan passed for four touchdowns Saturday night as Hawaii held on for a wild 45-44 victory over Louisiana Tech in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

The two teams combined for 1,012 yards of total offense in the contest - including 551 yards passing from Brennan, who fell just eight yards short of his career-high of 559 yards set in the 2006 Hawaii Bowl.

"I thought we did a good job at getting to him (Brennan) at times, but he also made us pay with some big plays," Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley said. "It's not everyday a guy throws for over 500 yards against you and you feel like you did a pretty good job against him."

Brennan set or tied a number of school records in last week's 63-6 throttling of Northern Colorado, including six touchdown passes in one half.

But the senior had to wait until the third quarter to extend his streak of throwing at least one TD pass to 28 games when he found Ryan Grice-Mullins for a 64-yard score that knotted the contest at 21-21.

The scoring toss was Brennan's 100th career TD pass, a number that only six passers in NCAA history have reached. Overall, he set career highs in completions and attempts, going 42-for-60 for four TDs and an interception.

Following Louisiana Tech's field goal that helped them take a 24-21 lead on the ensuing possession, Brennan connected once again with Grice-Mullins on a post route from 17 yards out to give the Warriors their first lead of the game at 28-24.

The teams exchanged fourth-quarter scoring passes to make it 35-31. But the Bulldogs refused to go away, as running back Dennis Morris crossed goal line on a one-yard scoring plunge to give Louisiana Tech a short-lived 38-35 advantage with 3:02 left in regulation.

Hawaii (2-0, 1-0 WAC) answered with a six-play, 16-yard drive that ended with a 48-yard field goal from Dan Kelly to tie the score at 38-38 with 1:35 remaining in the final quarter.

Hawaii was aided by two penalties - accounting for 19 yards - on the drive.

Brennan found receiver Jason Rivers, one of three Hawaii receivers to post over 100 yards receiving, on the second play of overtime to give the Warriors the lead once again at 45-38.

Bulldog quarterback Zac Champion, who finished 22-for-35 for 184 yards and two touchdowns, responded with a scoring drive of his own, capped off by Dustin Mitchell's two-yard touchdown reception.

Dooley, in his second game as the Bulldogs' coach, made a surprise decision and opted to go for a two-point conversion in the first overtime, only to see Champion's pass attempt to Brian Jackson get knocked away in the end zone.

"I know everyone is going to say this is a moral victory, but I'm not buying it," Dooley said. "We didn't win. We had our chances, and we didn't take advantage of them. Hawaii made the plays to win the game."

Patrick Jackson rushed for 99 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1), who lost their first game under Dooley.