On the field, Brennan was a force at quarterback college football had rarely seen
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Famed for its on-field fireworks, the run-and-shoot offense created by Mouse Davis and modernized by former Hawaii head coach June Jones never seemed quite as explosive as it did when Colt Brennan was Hawaii’s quarterback.
It doesn’t take long to find Brennan’s name when opening the University of Hawaii’s record book. He finished his career second to Timmy Chang in total passing yards ― 17,072 to 14,193 ― despite playing 15 fewer games for Hawaii than Chang did during his storied career.
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Assuming Brennan’s career 373.5 passing yards-per-game average, the most in program history, he would’ve needed to play just eight more games to pass Chang as the schools all-time leader.
Though he’s second in yards, Brennan does hold the school’s all-time mark for total touchdown passes with a whopping 131. That’s good for fourth all-time on the NCAA’s passing records list.
With a career average of about 3.5 touchdowns per game, he would’ve thrown enough touchdown passes to have the NCAA’s all-time record if he had played about seven more games.
During the 2006 season he broke the NCAA’s single-season record for touchdown passes, throwing five of them in season-finale Hawaii Bowl against Arizona State to finish with 58 ― a record that was later broken by Heisman Trophy-winning LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who threw for 60 during the 2019-2020 season.
Fans of University of Hawaii football would note that the Warriors were so far ahead in most games that season that Brennan didn’t play in the fourth quarter seven times. That season, Brennan led the nation in touchdown passes, passing yards, passing efficiency, completion percentage and total offense.
At the time, the 5,549 yards thrown by Brennan that season were the second-most all-time in a single year, behind only B.J. Symons. That mark has been surpassed by just four other quarterbacks since 2006.
Brennan still holds the NCAA record for career completion percentage, at 70.4 percent. Colt McCoy is the only other NCAA quarterback to log a pass completion percentage above 70 percent for an entire career.
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