NEW ORLEANS — Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan met the press yesterday. In a 15-minute discussion with 10 print reporters, Brennan described his team's makeup, the importance of playing in the Sugar Bowl, the lesson of discussing Soapgate, and why he and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow speak a different football language.

On how UH's four-wide offense will benefit from a strong showing against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl:

"Obviously when we match up against SEC talent, you can't get any better talent in college football. Everybody knows how good Georgia's defense is. Everybody respects Georgia's defense. So I think if this offense does have success that it would do a lot for the offense, and just how people look at the offense."

On if he is aware how other non-BCS teams are watching UH:

"No, I don't think so. Somehow, some way, everything we've done this season, after all of those close wins, nothing ever sank in. Even now, as we're sitting here, it feels like a normal travel week. Like nothing really has (sunk) in. We know that we're at the show. I just think that when we walk on that field, you know, and it's game time, we're going to be like, 'All right, we have to figure out how to get over this.' That's the key. If we can get over the fact that we're here and the game that it is, I think we can be all right. But we've gotta get over that."

On how Boise State's BCS victory last year helped a fellow Western Athletic Conference team:

"I truly agree with that. I think by Boise winning last year it gave credibility to allowing a mid-major (to) enter in the BCS picture. And I think that because they won that game is why everybody said, 'OK, we'll give Hawai'i the shot this year.' I really do."

On whether this game is the "final chance" to prove himself:

"Yeah, without a doubt. With all of the things, I've looked back and it's crazy how much success I've had. I realize that you're only as good as your last game, and my last game happens to be the Sugar Bowl against one of the best teams in the country. It is what it is, but this game has a huge impact on how I'll be remembered, and how my career will be looked at."

On how he would like to be remembered:

"Basically, as a player, I just want to be remembered for being that really awesome Hawai'i quarterback that ... it wasn't the numbers, it was the way he played the game. I think if you watch the film, if you watch the way I play the game, I'm not a kid that loves to throw the ball (to) just get rid of it. (The coaches are) yelling at me half the time 'To stop running the ball, get down, slide.' If we can do a trick play and have fun with it, if I can scramble around and have fun, I will. I'm a football player — not a quarterback, a football player.

"And as a person, (I want to be remembered) as a real person, not fake. I don't want to be remembered for being somebody (who) was fake. I want to be remembered for someone (who) was real, and told it how it was, who was a good person at heart. And that's all that mattered."

On Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford:

"I actually like Matthew. I watched him some last year. This year he's had a great year. He's a great play-action quarterback — big, physical kid. I've got a lot of respect for his game. He's a great QB."

On asking for a Georgia scouting report from Florida's Tim Tebow during the Heisman Trophy festivities in New York:

"We did talk. That was really funny watching me and Tim Tebow talk. You talk about all of the system-quarterback stuff, me and him cannot relate on anything we talked about. All he talked about were (defensive) fronts and linebackers, and I'm like, 'Dude, I throw the ball.' All I talked about (was): 'Where's the safety at?' And he's like, 'I don't pay attention to that.' I'm like, 'How are you making these reads then?' It was different. All he kept talking about were eight-man fronts and what the D-end's doing. I don't look at those guys ever. I'm looking down at the corners and the free safeties. We talked a little bit. We had fun with it. He said (Georgia's defense) was the best defense he played all year. And they gave him the most trouble (this) year. Obviously that's a great opportunity for me considering I was in the Heisman (race) with Tim, and if I came out and had success with Georgia, I think, it would validate a lot of things for me."

On Tebow's advice about facing Georgia:

"He said: 'Just get rid of it because they're coming.' He said they're a very physical, very fast defense. They're Georgia. They live up to their reputation. They're just as good as they are almost any year."

On the comparisons to Troy, a passing team that played Georgia this year:

"We watched a lot of Troy. Obviously when we watch film, the only thing we can watch is open-set teams that play them with a lot of receivers. We did, and we got some ideas, and they did throw the ball very (well) against Georgia."

On the appeal of the Sugar Bowl:

"Without a doubt, I'd love to watch this game. I don't think anybody has really watched us, really sat down and watched us play football. They may have watched some highlights, they may have seen some clips, but to watch a football team week in and week out, that's when you really understand a football team. I just think this is going to be the game that can define so much for us. ... We're the underdog. We're that Cinderella story, possibly. I think that's what it's all about.

"I think what's great — my life, everything I've gone through — people keep referring to me as a 'role model.' ... I'm a convicted felon (for a trespassing incident in Colorado four years ago). It's real tough. But the way the world is going, I'm real. There are so many kids out there, when you go in there ... and you talk to kids, they say, 'Don't do drugs. Don't drink alcohol.' Well, some of these kids have already made those mistakes in life. You're telling those kids: 'Give up. You've already screwed up.' Well, that's not what life's about.

"Life's about making (the most of) second chances, making the best out of things. That's what this football team is. It's real. Just like my story, this football team is real. We've come back from 21. We've come back from deficits that people would never have come back from. That's why I'm excited about (the game). I think the nation is going to love to watch and experience this football game."

On playing games past the East Coast's bedtime:

"Everybody keeps asking us about our ranking. We say, 'We're just grateful to be here.' We understand it's tough to watch us play. And that's just kind of the way it is. The only thing we can say back to that is: 'Hey, we live in Hawai'i.' "

On the cultural diversity between the Bulldogs and Warriors:

"It is a great clash of cultures. I'm just grateful we're in Louisiana because these LSU fans don't like Georgia too much. We've been treated like the cat's meow around here. They've been awesome to us. It's been fun watching all of the LSU fans cheering us on. And, obviously, we're cheering them on. It is a clash of cultures, but that's what's cool, though. That's what college football is all about."

On whether he imagined he would one day live in Hawai'i:

"Growing up as a kid, I loved football. I loved hunting. My grandfather had a ranch in Colorado, so I kind of had this western thing going. I used to beg my dad to move to Omaha, Neb., so I could go pheasant hunting (and) play football out there in the Midwest. But growing up in California, at 18, when I was going to the beach and snowboarding (in Colorado) every day, he was like, 'Do you want to go to Omaha now?' I'm like, 'No, not at all.' I never imagined I'd end up in Hawai'i. To end up out there, and to experience what I've experienced, I'm thankful for it. I'm grateful I got to have that opportunity and experience."

On how his receivers have contributed to the success of the offense:

"I say this, hands down, all of the time, they're the best receiving corps in the nation. And that's biased, I know. There may be some great single receivers out there. There may be some great guys. But what they do collectively as a unit, they're selfless, and not only that, they're Division I athletes. That's what everyone keeps misinterpreting. Hawai'i in the past was a great offense with good athletes. But we have great athletes now. And that's why, I think, it's been the difference in why my numbers have been as good as they are. It's because of the receivers around me."

On critics dismissing UH's offense:

"(They imply) it feels like we're cheating or something. ... You just line up and play. People are going to say what they're going to say. We love throwing the ball and scoring a lot of points. That's what we like to do.

On facing defenses geared to stop UH's passing attack:

"It can be tough. The thing is, we do a great job, and we don't get a lot of credit. But the last two weeks our run game has been unbelievable. Our ability to run the ball, that was the difference last year with Nate (Ilaoa) and Reagan (Mauia). Our run game has developed this year. For instance, we ended the Boise game with 12 or 13 runs. We ran the ball all the way down the field to end the game. That's been the difference the end of the year. We've gotten the run game so good that now defenses are playing us honest because they have to. When a defense plays us honest, it's our advantage completely."

On why he spoke out about UH's deteriorating facilities:

"When I got to Hawai'i at first, I looked around and I saw the facilities and everything, and I said, 'OK, we're not a Top-25 football program, and this is Hawai'i, so let's move on.' Well, through the success ... and watching nothing be done — no changes, no attempts to make things better — if anything it got worse as my time went there. It was kind of disturbing to the fact where I found myself ... we had no soap in our locker rooms; where half of our facilities are condemned, we can't use it. It just came to a point that something needed to be said.

"The only reason I said it was because I was the one people liked. So I figured I'd be the guy who stands up and takes the heat. I'm glad I did. I think that's the best thing I ever did. Even though we got hardly any change out of it, it's changed the way everybody's looking at the school, what everybody wants to do with the school. Everybody wants to make a difference now and make it a better place. And not only that the respect I got from my players, the janitors — the people (who) really matter — that was what was worth it."

On whether head coach June Jones thanked him for speaking out:

"On the side."

On overcoming adversity:

"Lou Holtz once said, 'You show me a championship football team, I'll show you a team that overcame adversity.' That's what life's about. Life's not fair. I hate how we teach our kids, if you work really hard and you go to school, everything's going to be great and you're going to get what you want. No, life isn't fair. And that's what I've learned. Life's not fair. It's about experiencing tough times. Sometimes because you made a mistake ... you've got to overcome tough times. And that's what I've learned. I'm going to experience many more tough times. I'm not perfect. But this is what it's all about: trying to be perfect, trying to do things right. That's the fight. I think that's what I learned the most.

"That whole situation in Colorado has kind of left me numb for a long time. It's hard to feel now, which is a good thing and a bad thing, because it's easy to block out negativity, it's easy to block out the bad things, but it's harder to enjoy the good things.

On the Sugar Bowl experience:

"Basically, ever since these two days I've been here, I keep telling myself, 'Wow, this is it.' I'm so glad we got here. Like I said earlier, it's tough to gain that 'America, Division I college football experience,' and we're gaining it. We really haven't had a chance to gain it. And we're in it right now. You feel really grateful that you got to experience it, especially when you're at a school that isn't used to experiencing it."

On wearing a lavalava:

"First of all, it's comfortable. A lot of guys out in Hawai'i throw on a lavalava and a T-shirt and they're out the door. Coming from California I had jackets and sweatshirts. All you can wear in Hawai'i is a T-shirt and shorts. Lavalava is cool because you can wear it to formal events, as well. It's a real comfortable thing. It's something that grows on you. I do it every once in a while to have fun."

On the difference between so-called big schools and mid-majors:

"I think the gap is definitely beginning to shrink. ... When I look back at our first game at Alabama last year. It wasn't the Xs and Os that beat us. We read the papers, and we felt we weren't supposed to win. We walked in there, 93,000 people, and we're in Alabama. We're not supposed to win this game, right? We go out and we're playing, and we're playing hard. But we're fumbling and we're making mistakes. We have jitters.

"I think now, what we realized is that, beating some of the teams we beat last year, we don't care who we play. We'll play whoever lines up in front of us. We'll stick to what we know, and we'll make it about the game. That's what everybody's learning right now. As long as you can get over the fact that you're playing Michigan or the big program that's supposed to win, you have a chance to win. Because it is about the game itself, and who beats you on that football field. I think that's what people are starting to realize."

Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.