Colt Brennan, the Master Passer.

Hawai'i's quarterback set an NCAA record for single-season touchdown passes with 58, breaking the mark of 54 set by Houston's David Klingler in 1990. It was Brennan's second of five TD strikes in the game, a 7-yarder to Ryan Grice-Mullins, that put him on top.

"Man, I didn't even know," Grice-Mullins said of the catch that broke a 10-all game with 8:45 left in the third quarter. "I'm just glad we got the win. I'm so happy for Colt, all he's been through, all he's done. It's just sweet for the team. This great group of seniors deserves the win."

But all as he has all season, Brennan sometimes saves his best passes for after the game.

"You always kind of wish it's a spectacular touchdown," Brennan said of the record pass. "But when they show the touchdown to break the record, it's going to be an unbelieveable receiver making an unbelievable play and me not doing much. Ryan did a great job of making a one-handed grab, making the guy miss and getting in."

Ohio State's Troy Smith won the Heisman Trophy, but Brennan is everybody's All-American. An American Idol. Well, at least out here in the Pacific.

"He likes to give the credit to a lot of different people but he has a special talent that we haven't really seen here in a while," tackle Dane Uperesa said. "I'm just proud to say I blocked for him and can say I helped him get a record."

It seemed everyone wanted an autograph from Brennan after the game. Or a picture. Even teammates popped out their own cameras. After all, there's a possibility the Hawai'i Bowl record crowd of 40,623 at Aloha Stadium might have seen Brennan for the last time in a Warriors' jersey. The junior can apply for the NFL draft.

"They're going to have to offer me something that's impossible to turn down," Brennan said. "And I mean impossible to turn down. If not, then I'm coming back and enjoying myself."

"If I could make the decision, I hope he would (return)," Grice-Mullins said. "It's a big decision for him, but he has to make the best one for him and his family."

Having a great game in which he passed for a season-high 559 yards from 33 of 42 passing might have convinced NFL scouts that Brennan's ready.

"A lot of people already understand he's a pretty unique guy," UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said. "This game will only further his cause."

The fact that UH still has four openings in its 2007 schedule will not be a deciding factor, Brennan said.

"You hang around the program you kind of know why the schedule is not getting done," Brennan said. "There's a specific reason it's not getting done right now. I'm sure Herman's (UH athletic director Herman Fraziera) got people lined up and ready to go next year. But the truth is with all the guys we're losing, we have a lot of work to do. We gotta rebuild the O-line, we gotta do some things. We'll see what happens. For now, it's just about this year and these guys and the bowl game we just won."

The record had to wait 30 minutes, as UH trailed, 10-3, at the half. The Warriors received the second-half kickoff and marched down field. But they got a little scare when Jason Rivers caught a short pass from Brennan and fumbled. Fortunately for Rivers, Uperesa muscled in for the ball against the ASU defenders to make the recovery.

"I was angry at myself," said Rivers, who finished with 308 yards and two TDs from 14 catches. "I pride myself on not fumbling."

But he atoned for it on the next play, beating the coverage on the left sideline, hauling in Brennan's perfect strike at the 3 for an easy stride into the end zone to tie the game at 10. That pulled Brennan into a tie with Klingler. Rivers had another historical catch when he caught Tim Chang's pass that made Chang the all-time career passing yardage leader in 2004.

That TD also broke the ice for the Warriors, who then added two more TD passes — both to Grice-Mullins — and a 43-yard field goal by Dan Kelly to make it 27-10.

'I was really nervous in the first half, but somehow he pulled it off," said Brennan's mother, Betsy, who attended the game with her husband Terry. "He's better under pressure sometimes."

Terry Brennan was happy for the record, but father, it turns out, is much like son.

"It's great, but the team won," Terry Brennan said. "That's all I care about."

Brennan had the kind of finish that his supporters had hoped for by putting up monster numbers in a season-ending victory.

"You look at WAC history, there's been a lot of great quarterbacks," Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said. "He's now right at the top. For it to be (from) a current WAC school is really meaningful. It's a big exclamation mark on an already great season."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.