No welcome back for Koetter

HONOLULU – It took some time, but the Hawaii offense finally got rolling.

The Warriors defeated Arizona State 41-24 in the Hawaii Bowl on Sunday night, scoring 38 points after halftime.

Hawaii’s Colt Brennan passed for a school-record 559 yards and five touchdowns as the Warriors defeated the Sun Devils in the final game of ASU coach Dirk Koetter’s tenure.

Koetter, who has been fired, is being replaced by Dennis Erickson who left the Idaho Vandals this month to take over the Pac-10 program.

Brennan broke the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes, finishing with 58.

Brennan threw a 7-yard pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen on the Warriors’ second series of the second half to break the previous mark of 54 set by Houston’s David Klingler in 1990.

After throwing the pass, Brennan hugged coach June Jones and waved No. 1 as teammates lifted the junior into the air and the crowd cheered wildly.

The Western Athletic Conference offensive player of the year reached the milestone in his 14th game, while Klingler’s 54 TD throws came in 11 games and before 2002, when bowl stats didn’t count.

But Brennan did not play the fourth quarter in seven games this season.

Brennan already owns the NCAA record for most TD passes in two seasons.

He entered the game leading the nation in six categories including TD passes, passing yards, total offense, passing efficiency, points responsible for and completion percentage.

With his second completion of the game, Brennan become the third quarterback in college history with 5,000 yards and 50 TDs in a season, joining Klingler and Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons.

Arizona State scored first, taking a 3-0 lead on a 44-yard field goal by Jesse Ainsworth. After Hawaii matched that score, the Sun Devils took their 10-3 halftime lead on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Rudy Carpenter to Brandon Smith.