Georgia sports for Wednesday, January 2nd

The Georgia Bulldogs rolled to an easy victory in the Sugar Bowl, kicking aside Hawaii 41-10 in New Orleans. The final represented the highest-scoring game for Georgia in its bowl history. It topped a 40-26 Bulldogs' win over TCU in the 1942 Orange Bowl.

Knowshon Moreno ran for a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter last night to set the tone early for the Bulldogs. The Georgia-defense dominated the Warriors, harassing highly-touted quarterback Colt Brennan all game long. He was sacked 8 times, threw 3 interceptions and lost 2 fumbles. Brennan's 169 yards passing was less than half of his 348-yard average for the season.

For Georgia, it completed an 11-2 season and solidified a top-5 finish for the season. It's likely the Bulldogs will be ranked in the top-5 going into next fall's 2008 campaign. Hawaii suffered their first loss of the season, finishing 12-1.

Georgia Beats Hawaii 41-10 in Sugar Bowl

Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno (24) scores his first touchdown of the game during the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl football game against Hawaii at the Superdome, in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008. (Charlie Riedel/AP)

On Georgia’s first possession of the Sugar Bowl, Bulldogs tailback Knowshon Moreno danced 17 yards, untouched, into the end zone. He celebrated by blowing a kiss to Georgia fans.

He might as well have kissed Hawaii and its undefeated season good night. No. 4 Georgia ran over No. 10 Hawaii on Tuesday night, 41-10, to win its seventh consecutive game and finish the season 11-2.

Georgia welcomed Hawaii to the BCS by giving the Warriors a heaping helping of SEC speed and power. Knowshon Moreno ran for touchdowns on Georgia's first two possessions and the Bulldogs took a 14-3 lead on Hawaii after the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday night.

After beating up on unbeaten Hawaii, the Georgia Bulldogs sounded a bit miffed about getting passed over for a shot at the national championship.

Patience, guys.

Next season could be your year.

Showing off a dazzling array of young talent Tuesday night, fourth-ranked Georgia closed its comeback of a season with a dominating 41-10 rout of Colt Brennan and the BCS-crashing Warriors.

At every turn, a freshman or sophomore made a huge play for the Bulldogs, be it Knowshon Moreno (two touchdown runs), Rennie Curran (two sacks), Matthew Stafford (a TD pass) or Asher Allen (nine tackles, two interceptions).

While Florida and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow are the early favorites for next season, keep an eye on the Gators' Southeastern Conference rival. The Bulldogs certainly provided a tantalizing glimpse of their 2008 potential against Hawaii, which came in seeking perfection and left thoroughly whipped.

"It was the fastest team I've probably ever seen," said Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan, a Heisman finalist whose college career ended with a thud.

Georgia coach Mark Richt wasn't about to make any bold predictions, but he conceded the obvious.

"We're going to return a very good football team," he said. "We'll be more of a veteran team than we've had in a while. We'll have some good depth. We'll have a chance to make a run at it. But so do about six or seven others in our league."

Georgia closed the season with seven straight wins after a sluggish start, the last of them on the very same field where Ohio State will meet LSU in the national title game next Monday.

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(The Associated Press)