2008 Hawaii Bowl

2008 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Bowl Game
1234 Total
Hawaii 0777 21
Notre Dame 721210 49
Date December 24, 2008
Season 2008
Stadium Aloha Stadium
Location Honolulu, Hawaii
MVP QB Jimmy Clausen (Notre Dame)
WR Golden Tate (Notre Dame)
WR Aaron Bain (Hawai'i)
Favorite Notre Dame by 1½[1]
Attendance 45,718 (tickets sold); 43,487 (turnstile)[2]
Payout US$750,000 per team[3]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN
Announcers Dave Pasch, Andre Ware
Nielsen ratings 2.6

The 2008 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Hawaiʻi Warriors against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on December 24, 2008, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game was part of the 2008-2009 bowl game schedule of the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the concluding game of the season for both teams. This seventh edition of the Hawaiʻi Bowl originally scheduled a matchup between a team from the WAC and another from the Pac-10, however, the Pac-10 failed to produce enough teams. The game was telecast on ESPN.

Notre Dame's victory marked its first in the postseason since the Irish defeated Texas A&M in the 1994 Cotton Bowl Classic to end the 1993 season, and ended a NCAA record nine-game bowl game losing streak. Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen broke school bowl game records after passing for 401 yards and five touchdowns, and his 84.6% completion rate was the second-best completion percentage for any player in any bowl game in NCAA history.[4] Wide receiver Golden Tate also set Irish bowl records upon catching for 177 yards and three touchdowns.[5]

The game set the record for the Hawaiʻi Bowl's largest attendance, in both tickets sold and turnstile count, breaking the previous record set at the 2006 edition.[2]

Game summary

The Irish scored first on a Robert Hughes 2-yard touchdown run, capping a 9 play 87-yard drive. After the Irish defense forced a Hawaiʻi 3-and-out, Irish safety Sergio Brown blocked a Hawaiʻi punt. Notre Dame could not capitalize on the block, in part due to an excessive celebration penalty incurred by Notre Dame after the play that pushed them out of field goal range. After forcing another Hawaiʻi 3-and-out, Clausen connected with senior wide receiver David Grimes for a 14-yard touchdown. The Warriors answered right back, however, driving 56 yards in 6 plays and scoring on a 10-yard Aaron Bain touchdown from Hawaiʻi quarterback Greg Alexander.

With the score at 14-7, Notre Dame proceeded to score 28 unanswered points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. In the 2nd quarter, Clausen connected with Golden Tate on 69-yard play action pass for a touchdown. After senior safety David Bruton intercepted Greg Alexander, Clausen again connected with Tate for an 18-yard touchdown in the corner of the endzone on a 3rd down and 18 play with :01 second left before the half. In the third quarter, Notre Dame continued to score, on Clausen touchdowns to running back Armando Allen on an 18-yard screen play and to Golden Tate on a 40-yard deep out pass. With the score at 42-7, Hawaiʻi finally scored on another Alexander to Bain touchdown of 18 yards. On the ensuing kickoff, Armando Allen put any Hawaiʻi rally to rest, scoring on a 96-yard touchdown return. Hawaiʻi scored the final touchdown of the game with 2 minutes remaining against Notre Dame reserves.[6]

Scoring summary

Scoring Play Score
1st Quarter
ND - Robert Hughes 2 yard TD run (Brandon Walker kick), 3:08 ND 7-0
2nd Quarter
ND - David Grimes 14 yard TD pass from Jimmy Clausen (Walker kick), 10:25 ND 14-0
Hawaiʻi - Aaron Bain 10 yard TD pass from Greg Alexander (Daniel Kelly kick), 8:12 ND 14-7
ND - Golden Tate 69 yard TD pass from Clausen (Walker kick), 6:49 ND 21-7
ND - Tate 18 yard TD pass from Clausen (Walker kick), :01 ND 28-7
3rd Quarter
ND - Armando Allen 18 yard TD pass from Clausen (Walker kick), 10:50 ND 35-7
ND - Tate 40 yard TD pass from Clausen (Walker kick), 7:22 ND 42-7
Hawaiʻi - Bain 21 yard TD pass from Alexander (Kelly kick), 4:25 ND 42-14
ND - Allen 96 yard kickoff return (Walker kick), 4:12 ND 49-14
4th Quarter
Hawaiʻi - Michael Washington 27 yard TD pass from Inoke Funaki (Kelly kick), 1:45 ND 49-21

References

  1. "2008 Hawaii Bowl Predictions - Hawaii v. Notre Dame Odds & Picks".
  2. 1 2 "Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Notebook". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  3. http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=494772
  4. "Jeff Jeffers' Hawaii Bowl postgame recap". WNDU.com. 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  5. "Notre Dame ends bowl drought". Associated Press (International Herald Tribune). 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
  6. "Irish Dominate All Phases En Route to Hawai'i Bowl Win". und.cstv.com. 2008-12-24. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, December 24, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.