HONOLULU - University of Hawai`i head football coach June Jones and quarterback Colt Brennan were named today the Western Athletic Conference coach and offensive player of the year.

It is the second year in a row that both Jones and Brennan won the awards. Also a special award was created to honor the WAC's Offensive Unit of the Year and was given to Brennan and his four main receivers - Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullen, C.J. Hawthorne and Jason Rivers.

The Warriors led the league with 11 first-team all-WAC honorees, while Boise State and Fresno State placed five and four, respectively, on the first team.

Jones earned his third WAC Coach of the Year award (and second straight) after leading Hawai`i to a perfect 12-0 record, the Warriors' first ever outright WAC title and a spot in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. Jones won his first WAC Coach of the Year award in 1999 and his second last season.

Brennan, a senior quarterback from Irvine, Calif. (Saddleback CC), is third in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 166.3. He has thrown for 4,174 yards and 38 touchdowns in leading Hawai`i to a perfect 12-0 record in the regular season. Brennan also has rushed for eight touchdowns to rank fourth in the nation in points responsible for with 25.1 per game. Earlier this year, he became the NCAA all-time leader in touchdown passes and currently has 131 in his three seasons. Brennan still has one game left in his career when the Warriors head to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl to face Georgia on January 1. No Hawai`i player had ever been named the WAC's Offensive Player of the Year until Brennan last season.

Also in an unprecedented move this season, the WAC is awarding the University of Hawai`i the Offensive Unit of the Year to recognize the record-setting season of the Warriors' quarterback Colt Brennan and his four primary wide receivers; Jason Rivers, Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullen and C.J. Hawthorne. Hawai`i has racked up a total of 6,351 offensive yards this season, leads the nation in scoring with 46.2 points per game and has set numerous NCAA, WAC and school records.

Said WAC Commissioner Karl Benson, "Colt asked me in the locker room after the Washington game on Saturday night that if he was selected the player of the year, was there a way the WAC could share the award with his `boys'. Once again, Colt impressed me with his unselfishness, and I told him I would do what I could. On the flight back to the mainland, I thought of this way to pay tribute to Colt and these four great receivers for the season each had and how they each contributed to the Warriors' perfect 12-0 regular season."

Repeat first team all-WAC selections from last year include Hawai`i's Bess and Brennan, Boise State's Ryan Clady and Ian Johnson, Idaho linebacker David Vobora and San Jose State defensive back Dwight Lowery. Bess, a junior, is a three-time first-team all-WAC honoree.

UH also placed three others on the all-WAC first team offense including Grice-Mullen (WR), John Estes (OL) and Hercules Satele (OL). On defense, defensive linemen David Veikune and Michael Lafaele along with linebackers Solomon Elimimian and Adam Leonard accompanied defensive back Myron Newberry on the all-WAC first team defense. On special teams, place kicker Dan Kelly was the lone UH representative.

Wide receiver Jason Rivers was the only Warrior named to the all-WAC second team.

The Warriors take on Georgia Jan. 1, 2008, in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in the Louisiana Superdome.

-UH-