2008 Sugar Bowl

2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl
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
Date	January 1, 2008
Season	2007
Stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Georgia DE Marcus Howard
Favorite	Georgia by 9½
National anthem	Bonerama
Referee	Brian O'Cain (Pac-10)
Halftime show	Both school bands, AllState Sugar Bowl Band
Attendance	74,383
Payout	US$17 million per team
United States TV coverage
Network	FOX
Announcers	Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis
Nielsen ratings	7.9
Sugar Bowl
< 2007	2009 >

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.

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, as Georgia earned 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 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[]

^ 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.
^ 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.
^ "2007-2008 NCAA BCS Bowl Games and Payouts". www.new-orleans-resort.com. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
^ 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.
^ Reardon, Dave (January 5, 2008). "SMU ponying up big bucks". honolulustarbulletin.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
^ The FOX BCS Selection Show on December 2, 2007
^ NCAA Football Full Play-by-Play - Hawaii vs. Georgia Archived 2008-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2 January 2007.
^ "Jones leaves Hawaii for SMU". ESPN.com. January 8, 2008. Retrieved April 21, 2018.

[Odds2-1] 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.

[attendance-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.

[Odds-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.

[Rating-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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v t 2007–08 NCAA football bowl game season
Poinsettia (Dec. 20) New Orleans (Dec. 21) PapaJohns.com (Dec. 22) New Mexico (Dec. 22) Las Vegas (Dec. 22) Hawaii (Dec. 23) Motor City (Dec. 26) Holiday (Dec. 27) Emerald (Dec. 28) Texas (Dec. 28) Champs Sports (Dec. 28) Meineke Car Care (Dec. 29) Alamo (Dec. 29) Liberty (Dec. 29) Independence (Dec. 30) Music City (Dec. 31) Sun (Dec. 31) Insight (Dec. 31) Chick-fil-A (Dec. 31) Humanitarian (Dec. 31) Armed Forces (Dec. 31) Outback (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Gator (Jan. 1) Capital One (Jan. 1) International (Jan. 5) GMAC (Jan. 6)
Bowl Championship Series games: Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1) Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 2) Orange Bowl (Jan. 3) BCS National Championship (Jan. 7)
All-Star Games: Hula Bowl (Jan. 12) East–West Shrine Game (Jan. 19) Senior Bowl (Jan. 26) Texas vs. The Nation Game (Feb. 2)

v t Sugar Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff Broadcasters Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan) 1972 (Dec) 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 (Jan) 1995 (Dec) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972 and 1995. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015 and 2018 editions.