The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page D13

Tuesday, December 26, 2006 THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER www.philly.com D13 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Walk-on walks off with TD mark Most TD Passes in a Season NCAA Division l-A 58 Colt Brennan, Hawaii, 2006 54 David Klingler, Houston, 1990 52 B.J. Symons, Texas Tech, 2003 47-Jim McMahon, Brigham Young, 19 46 -Andre Ware, Houston, 1989 46 -Tim Rattay, Louisiana Tech, 1998 45 Kl iff Kingsbury, Texas Tech, 2002 Hawaii's Colt Brennan has broken David Klingler's record for touchdown strikes. By Jaymes Song ASSOCIATED PRESS HONOLULU As a walk-on at Hawaii, Colt Brennan was determined to redeem himself and create something special. He has done that and more. Brennan has broken the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes with 58, throwing five in the second half to lead Hawaii to a 41-24 victory over Arizona State on Sunday night in the Hawaii Bowl.

Brennan, 33 of 42 for 559 yards, threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen on the Warriors' second series of the second half to break the previous mark of 54, set by Houston's "Brennan is Dd Klm" gler in everything 1990, also they said he gainf Sun Devils. WaS. The game capped his Dirk Koetter breakout Arizona State season, dur-coach ing which he led the nation in touchdown passes, passing yards, total offense, passing efficiency, points responsible for and completion percentage. Brennan, who finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting, said he would most likely return for his senior year. "They're going to have to offer me something that's impossible to turn down, and I mean impossible to turn down," he said of the pros.

"If not, I'm just going to come back and enjoy myself." Jason Rivers tied a school mark with 14 receptions and set a Hawaii record of 308 yards, the most in a bowl game since 1937. NCAA records don't go back any further. Grice-Mullen grabbed the record touchdown pass with one hand, made a move, and leaped across the goal line for the touchdown that gave Hawaii a 17-10 lead. "When they show that touchdown to break the record, it's College Football Bowl Schedule Tonight Motor City Bowl in Detroit: Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee, 7:30, ESPN Tomorrow Emerald Bowl in San Francisco: Florida State vs.

UCLA, 8 p.m., ESPN Thursday Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Oklahoma State vs. Alabama, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Holiday Bowl in San Diego: California vs. Texas 8 p.m., ESPN Texas Bowl in Houston: Rutgers vs. Kansas State 8 p.m., NFL Network Friday Music City Bowl in Nashville: Clemson vs. Kentucky, 1 p.m., ESPN Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas: Missouri vs.

Oregon State, 2p.m.,CBS3 Liberty Bowl in Memphis: South Carolina vs. Houston, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Insight Bowl in Tempe, Minnesota vs. Texas Tech, 7:30 p.m., NFL Network Champ Sports Bowl in Orlando, Maryland vs. Purdue, 8 p.m., ESPN Saturday Meineke Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.: Navy vs. Boston College, I p.m., ESPN Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas: Iowa vs.

Texas, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia, 8 p.m., ESPN Sunday MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho: Nevada vs. Miami, 7:30 p.m., ESPN Monday Outback Bowl in Tampa, Penn State vs. Tennessee, II a.m., ESPN Cotton Bowl in Dallas: Auburn vs. Nebraska, 11:30 a.m., Fox29 Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Wisconsin vs.

Arkansas, 1 p.m.,6ABC Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia, 1 p.m., CBS3 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, USC vs. Michigan, 5p.m.,6ABC Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Boise State vs. Oklahoma, 8:30 p.m., Fox29 Next Tuesday Orange Bowl in Miami: Wake Forest vs. Louisville, 8 p.m., Fox29 ter out with a win.

He coached his final game after being fired last month. Dennis Erickson has been hired to take over the team. Koetter was 40-34 in six seasons, including records of 2-19 against ranked teams and 21-28 in the Pacific Ten Conference. He also led the Sun Devils to four bowl games. "I'm a football coach," he said.

"I'll be coaching. Don't feel sorry for us. We'll be fine." Brennan finished the season with 5,549 yards to become just the third quarterback in college history with 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season, joining Klingler and Texas Tech's B.J. Symons. "Brennan is everything they said he was," Koetter said.

"We couldn't get it going on offense and we couldn't stop them on defense." Koetter didn't expect Rivers, though. "I asked June where he had been hiding No. 84," Koetter said. "We knew the other receivers, but he was spectacular." Brennan and Grice-Mullen also connected on a 41-yard play down the middle for Bren-nan's 56th touchdown pass, and Brennan then threw a 21-yard scoring pass to a crossing Davone Bess, giving Hawaii a 34-24 lead. Dan Kelly kicked a 43-yard field goal to put the Warriors up by 27-10 early in the fourth quarter, but the Sun Devils trimmed the lead to 10 points on Ryan Torain's 12-yard touchdown run.

The score was set up by a 64-yard run by Torain, who finished with 160 yards on 18 carries and was honored as the game MVP for Arizona State. feS' tfi RONEN ZILBERMAN Associated Press On a night he will never forget, Colt Brennan celebrates the Warriors' 41-24 victory over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. Brennan threw five touchdown passes in the second half on Sunday night. going to be an unbelievable receiver making an unbelievable catch and me not doing much," Brennan said. After throwing the pass, Brennan hugged coach June Jones as teammates lifted the junior into the air with the crowd of 40,623 cheering night," Rivers said.

"We really had something special this year." Hawaii (11-3) matched the school mark for most wins in a season, set in 1992 when the team was 11-2. The Sun Devils (7-6) concluded a disappointing season, unable to send coach Dirk Koet Brennan tied the record on the previous series by throwing a 38-yard pass to a wide-open Rivers. Brennan and Rivers, selected as the co-MVPs for Hawaii, also teamed on the final touchdown pass, a 79-yarder late in the fourth quarter. "He just kept hitting all Florida, Ohio State have jelled well The Buckeyes' defense lost three first-round picks, but it has turned into a formidable unit. Gators get pointers from basketball team were going to have to play together, and we were going to have to really, really focus on doing this as a unit," linebackers coach Luke Fickell said.

"Last year if something happened you might say, 'Don't worry, A.J. Hawk or Donte Whitner will make the play, or Bobby Carpenter will do This year we went into it saying this team's going to have to be a true team." Maybe. But several individuals had mammoth years. They fit into the team concept, but there's no question that the talented Buckeyes were reloading instead of rebuilding. Linebacker James Laurinaitis blossomed in his first trip into the spotlight, leading the team in tackles with an even 100 while intercepting five passes, posting four sacks, and forcing three fumbles.

The sophomore, used sparingly a year ago, won the Nagurski Award as the top defensive player in the country and was a first-team all-American. Teams are not supposed to lose as many top players as the Buckeyes did and become better. But the numbers point to that. Ohio State surrendered just over 10 points a game. Teams managed just 94 rushing yards a game.

Most important, the defense intercepted 21 passes and recovered six fumbles. "The one thing that they do defensively is they have great balance from front to back," said Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen. "There's not a real weak spot in their defense that you try to find this one guy and let's try to attack him." The result is a no-name unit more effective than a lot of defenses stocked with established stars. By Rusty Miller ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBUS, Ohio Poor Ohio State, the national publications said. All those weapons on offense, and only a couple of bit players back on the other side of the ball.

Four months later, there's no need to feel sorry for the Buckeyes. Save your sympathy for all those offenses left broken in their wake. "When we came into this season we had a really big challenge," defensive tackle David Patterson said. "We had a lot of questions that were unanswered; we had a lot of new guys." A weakness became a strength and rookies became wily veterans as the top-ranked Buckeyes' defense matched Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and the offense in terms of big plays and memorable moments during the 2006 season. Ohio State's surprising defense, as much as any other factor, vaulted the top-ranked Buckeyes into the national championship game on Jan.

8 against No. 2 Florida. What no one had counted on was a resilient group of seniors and several players who were extremely fast learners. The Buckeyes had only two returning starters from last year's 10-2 team, which surrendered just over 15 points a game. The losses were staggering: Linebacker A.J.

Hawk, safety Donte Whitner and linebacker Bobby Carpenter were all taken in the first round of the NFL draft. One of the most honored classes ever at Ohio State left behind some huge holes. "We knew going into it we But that's just not how it always is, or always has been at Florida. Basketball recruiters from other schools would go into homes of Florida recruiting targets and drill into them that no one cares about basketball at that football school. The fan support wouldn't be there.

Neither would the money to update facilities. It was nonsense, Donovan said. But it generated an impression of a division. Then the Gators won the basketball national championship. What happened next has gone a long way toward uniting two programs that were never on the outs, but weren't so tied together, either.

Meyer called Donovan. He wanted to pick his brain a little on teamwork and unselfishness. And then he wanted his football players to hear Donovan. Then he wanted them exposed to a winner, having them mingle, even having some of Florida's basketball players judge a football players' slam-dunk contest. "Urban had a championship day, where he showed a lot of highlights, and he wanted my opinion of what goes into it," Donovan said.

"He wanted to hear about the mind-set of unselfishness and how that builds a champion." Meyer wanted his team to soak it in, to see how much fun it was to be the best. And see that, quite frankly, they weren't the best. By Bill Sanders ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION GAINESVILLE, Fla. Florida's head coach has figured out how to stop Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith. "Bring everybody, every time," the coach said.

"Of course, I'm just in attack mode right now, but bring them all." The coach with the outspoken plan wasn't Urban Meyer. It was Gators men's basketball coach Billy Donovan, who has a passionate interest in who wins Jan. 8 in Glendale, when Florida plays Ohio State for the BCS national title. Meyer and Donovan have become fast friends. The two ultra-focused coaches, who leave nothing to chance, have taken enough time to at least glance at the other and admire the accomplishments and style of leadership.

More than that, Donovan, coach of college basketball's reigning national champions, doesn't shy away from calling Florida a football school. "For years, I saw coaches battle and fight the perception here," Donovan said. "Why? Football's the No. 1 passion of the normal fans in this state. We've been able to build on the Gators tradition, but we're not battling to beat football." That sounds like a no-brain-er, that a basketball coach would cheer for the football team and not feel a need to compete with a different sport.

BRIAN BAHR Getty Images Brady Quinn and Notre Dame take on LSU in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3 in New Orleans. PHIL SANDLIN AP Billy Donovan, basketball coach, is friends with Florida football coach Urban Meyer. "You have no idea how many times we've thrown that in their face," Meyer said. "The basketball team was the best piece of evidence of what a group of unselfish players can do.

When Donovan met with the team, it was all about credibility. Obviously, when you're a national champion, you have that credibility." Basketball player Chris Richard remembers the slam-dunk contest and spoke as if it was a changing point. "That part of it happened out of the blue," Richard said. "We'd heard the football players were playing basketball during a team session and thought it'd be funny to go watch them play. "Coach Meyer came in, and we thought we were going to get tossed out.

Instead, he asked us to judge the contest and then to speak to the team. I'd never spoken to a group of guys my age before, but they listened. Hopefully, what we said had some impact on them, because here they are." Jan. 3 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans: LSU vs. Notre Dame, 8 p.m., Fox29 Jan.

6 International Bowl in Toronto: Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan, noon, ESPN2 Jan. 7 GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Southern Miss vs. Ohio, 8 p.m., ESPN Jan. 8 BCS National Championship in Glendale, Ohio State vs.

Florida, 8 p.m., Fox29.