3. Colt Brennan

Hawaii, quarterback, Sr.

Previous rank: 5th.

2006 Heisman voting: 202 votes (6th).

2007 stats: 11 games, 337 of 472 passing for 4,174 yards, 38 TDs, 14 INTs; 73 rushes for 65 yards, 8 TDs.

2006 stats: 14 games, 406 of 559 passing, 5,549 yards, 58 TDs, 12 INTs; 86 rushes for 366 yards, 5 TDs.

Last game (35-28 victory vs. Washington, 12/1): Brennan put on another Heismanesque performance, leading his team back from a 21-0 deficit and capping it off with a game-winning TD pass with 44 seconds left as Hawaii finished 12-0 and virtually assured itself a BCS berth.

The kid was nearly perfect in another pressure-packed game, completing 42-of-50 for 442 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. Brennan had a school-record streak of 20 straight completions, was six-for-six on the game-winning 76-yard drive, and even managed to overrule coach June Jones, who wanted to run the ball on what turned out to be the game-winning play.

Considering all that was at stake, Brennan couldn’t have played any better and without question punched his ticket to New York City for the Heisman ceremony.

Season review: The goal this season for Brennan and the Warriors was to go unbeaten and crash the BCS party. They knew it was their only chance, and they managed to get it done. That speaks volumes in itself.

Two things will prevent him from winning the Heisman, though.

First is lack of quality competition. Hawaii only beat two teams with winning records and just one ranked team, Boise State. The combined record of their 12 opponents was an anemic 53-92. Racking up huge numbers against that kind of competition just doesn’t mean as much as if it was done in, say, the SEC.

Then there are his numbers. While passing for over 4,000 yards and 38 TDs is far from pedestrian, still, those figures are significantly lower than last year when he threw for 5,549 yards and 58 TDs.

True, he missed essentially two games because of injury, but even if had played he would have fallen short of last year’s statistics. In that sense, he was a victim of his own success.

Still, it was a great season for Brennan any way you look at it.

Bowl game: Jan. 1 date in Sugar Bowl vs. Georgia.

Next season: Brennan will get his chance to show all his doubters that his skills can translate into the NFL. Stay tuned.

Schedule: vs. Northern Colorado (W, 63-6); at Louisiana Tech (W, 45-44 OT); at UNLV (W, 49-14); vs. Charleston Southern (W, 66-10); at Idaho (W, 48-20); vs. Utah St. (W, 52-37); at San Jose St. (W, 42-35 OT); vs. New Mexico St. (W, 50-13); vs. Fresno St. (W, 37-30); at Nevada (W, 28-26); vs. Boise State (W, 39-27); vs. Washington (W, 35-28).

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