The 2004 Sheraton

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's largest and second oldest brand . Starwood's headquarters are in White Plains, New York.-Sheraton history:...

 Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii Bowl

The Hawaii Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played annually at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii since 2002. Typically played on either Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, the game matches teams from either...

, part of the 2004

2004 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with several undefeated teams vying for a spot in the national title game, triggering controversy. In the 2003 season, no team finished the regular season unbeaten, and five teams finished the season with one loss...

 bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

 season, took place on December 24, 2004, at Aloha Stadium

Aloha Stadium

Aloha Stadium is a stadium located in the Halawa CDP, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Currently Aloha Stadium is home to the University of Hawaii Warriors football team...

 in Honolulu, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. The competing teams were the UAB Blazers

2004 UAB Blazers football team

The 2004 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the college football season of 2004, and was the fourteenth team fielded by the school. The team's head coach was Watson Brown, who was entering his tenth season as the program's head coach...

, representing Conference USA

Conference USA

Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...

 (C-USA) and the Hawaii Warriors

2004 Hawaii Warriors football team

The 2004 Hawaii Warriors football team represented the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A college football season. Hawaii finished the 2004 season with a 8-5 record, going 4-4 in WAC play. The Warriors made their third straight appearance in the Hawaii Bowl, facing off...

, representing the Western Athletic Conference

Western Athletic Conference

The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...

 (WAC). Hawaii won the game 59–40.

Hawaii

Hawaii finished the 2004 season with a 8–5 record, going 4–4 in WAC play. The Warriors made their third straight appearance in the Hawaii Bowl, facing off against UAB. The Warriors would go on to defeat the Blazers and cap off their third straight winning season, the fifth in six seasons under head coach June Jones

June Jones

June Sheldon Jones, III is the American football head coach for Southern Methodist University.-Playing career:Jones played the quarterback position on three college teams: Oregon , Hawaii , and Portland State . It is during his time at Portland State that he was introduced to the Run and Shoot...

.

UAB

The Blazers finished the 2004 season with a record of 7–5 (5–3 C-USA). The Blazers would also make their first ever bowl appearance.

Game summary

UAB started the scoring with a 51-yard touchdown strike from quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 Darrell Hackney

Darrell Hackney

Darrell Hackney is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2006...

 to wide receiver

Wide receiver

A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...

 Roddy White

Roddy White

Sharod Lamor White is an American football wide receiver playing for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League...

. The extra point

Convert

The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...

 attempt was blocked, and UAB opened up a 6–0 lead. Hawaii came right back with a 74-yard touchdown pass from Timmy Chang

Timmy Chang

Timothy Kealii'okaaina Awa Chang is a retired American football player. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

 to Jason Rivers to take a 7–6 lead. UAB's Dan Burks

Dan Burks

Dan Burks is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was originally signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at UAB....

 scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to make the score 13–7 UAB. However, the Warriors responded with a pair of touchdowns to take a 21–13 lead at the end of the first quarter. West Keliikipi scored first on a 4-yard run, and Chang threw a 29-yard pass to Gerald Welch for the second score.

In the second quarter, Nick Hayes opened the scoring with a 22-yard field goal to bring UAB within 21–16. Hawaii answered with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Chang to Chad Owens

Chad Owens

Chad Owens is a professional American, Canadian and Arena football wide receiver and kick returner for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft...

 bringing the lead to 28–16. Norris Drinkard scored on a 10-yard touchdown run for UAB to cut the lead to 28–23. Hayes second field goal of the quarter from 36-yards out with three seconds remaining in the half trimmed the lead to 28–26.

Hawaii blew the game wide open in the third quarter. First, Chad Owens caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Timmy Chang, and then he scored on a 59-yard punt return. A Justin Ayat 43-yard field goal pushed the lead to 45–26. UAB's Hackney scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 45–33, but the Warriors would not fold.

In the fourth quarter, Timmy Chang drove Hawaii the length of the field, and capped a time consuming drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. Lance Rhodes caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Hackney, to bring the score to 52–40. But the ensuing onside kick was returned by Hawaii's Britton Komine 42-yards for a Hawaii touchdown. That provided the final score, 59–40.