Welcome To the Big Time Boise!by Tim Hawver
“That’s Bob Stoops right over there!”
I could envision a Boise St. football player saying that last night at the Fiesta Bowl. That’s how awesome the BCS experience must have been for the Broncos from Boise, Idaho. A few years ago, many of their players probably dreamt that Stoops would watch their high school game tapes. Last night these same young men not only played against the Stoops-led Sooners, they took it to them.
Many people felt Boise would be overwhelmed playing in front of thousands of fans and on the enormous stage that is New Year’s Day. The Broncos proved the skeptics wrong by coming out and setting the tone early. That’s right; Boise St., not Oklahoma, set the tone.
Boise won the pre-game coin toss and elected to kick to the Sooners. At this point, many figured a healthy dose of Adrian Peterson and an Oklahoma touchdown would follow. Boise St., however, cooked up a defensive stop and quick touchdown of their own.
On the ensuing Oklahoma possession, the Broncos recovered a Paul Thompson fumble. They capitalized on the short field two plays later on a 2 yard run by Ian Johnson. Before you could settle in and watch it was 14-0 in Boise’s advantage.
As you would expect from a Bob Stoops team, the Sooners bounced back. Paul Thompson redeemed himself by leading a 13 play, 82 yard drive that cut the Oklahoma deficit in half. The following Boise drive stalled and just like that Oklahoma was looking to tie the game up. Knocking on the door of the red zone, Oklahoma took a shot at the end zone, but Marty Tadman intercepted Paul Thompson’s pass.
It appeared to be that kind of night for the Broncos. But this game was different for Boise; it was Oklahoma on the other side of the field, not Wyoming.
After taking a 21-10 lead into halftime, Marty Tadman returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown. Now up by 18 points, the game seemed to be in cruise control. But things began to fall apart for Boise.
The momentum of the game turned on a critical special teams miscue by the Broncos. An awkward punt bounced of the leg of a Boise player, was recovered by Oklahoma and led to a touchdown. The Sooners began chipping away at the Boise lead and found themselves down eight as time was winding down in the fourth quarter.
With less than two minutes to play Oklahoma scored a touchdown on a 5 yard pass from Thompson to Quentin Chaney and succeeded on the two-point conversion. The game appeared to be heading toward overtime. But on the following play; Marcus Walker picked off Boise quarterback, Jared Zabransky. Walker returned the interception for a touchdown and appeared to kill the Bronco’s fighting spirit.
Down by seven with less than a minute to play, it appeared that Boise would have to settle for a moral victory against the almighty Sooners. But on a seemingly impossible fourth and eighteen, the Broncos executed what can only be described as the perfect play. Zabransky connected on a pass of about sixteen yards, which was redirected on a lateral to Jerard Rabb who took it in for six. The key to the play was the initial pass, which was long enough to make Sooner defenders believe the initial receiver would go for the first down himself. Now the game was certainly heading for overtime and the fun was just beginning.
On the first play of overtime, Adrian Peterson broke off a 25 yard touchdown run. Once again, it appeared that Cinderella’s run was over. But the Broncos went on a seven-play drive that included a fourth down conversion for a touchdown. Instead of forcing a second overtime, Boise coach, Chris Petersen, elected to go for the win.
On another brilliantly executed play, the Broncos won the Fiesta Bowl. This time it was a ‘statue of liberty,’ that faked out every Oklahoma player on the field. It was now official: David had beaten Goliath.
This is the kind of excitement that college basketball gets every March when mid-major conferences get their shot at the big dogs on the biggest stage. But in football, we rarely get to see this at the end of the year. Boise St. had been looking for this opportunity for years and finally (with a new rule added to the BCS) got its shot.
Isn’t it ironic that the uninvited guest provided the excitement that the BCS will now use to defend their system?
I could envision a Boise St. football player saying that last night at the Fiesta Bowl. That’s how awesome the BCS experience must have been for the Broncos from Boise, Idaho. A few years ago, many of their players probably dreamt that Stoops would watch their high school game tapes. Last night these same young men not only played against the Stoops-led Sooners, they took it to them.
Many people felt Boise would be overwhelmed playing in front of thousands of fans and on the enormous stage that is New Year’s Day. The Broncos proved the skeptics wrong by coming out and setting the tone early. That’s right; Boise St., not Oklahoma, set the tone.
Boise won the pre-game coin toss and elected to kick to the Sooners. At this point, many figured a healthy dose of Adrian Peterson and an Oklahoma touchdown would follow. Boise St., however, cooked up a defensive stop and quick touchdown of their own.
On the ensuing Oklahoma possession, the Broncos recovered a Paul Thompson fumble. They capitalized on the short field two plays later on a 2 yard run by Ian Johnson. Before you could settle in and watch it was 14-0 in Boise’s advantage.
As you would expect from a Bob Stoops team, the Sooners bounced back. Paul Thompson redeemed himself by leading a 13 play, 82 yard drive that cut the Oklahoma deficit in half. The following Boise drive stalled and just like that Oklahoma was looking to tie the game up. Knocking on the door of the red zone, Oklahoma took a shot at the end zone, but Marty Tadman intercepted Paul Thompson’s pass.
It appeared to be that kind of night for the Broncos. But this game was different for Boise; it was Oklahoma on the other side of the field, not Wyoming.
After taking a 21-10 lead into halftime, Marty Tadman returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown. Now up by 18 points, the game seemed to be in cruise control. But things began to fall apart for Boise.
The momentum of the game turned on a critical special teams miscue by the Broncos. An awkward punt bounced of the leg of a Boise player, was recovered by Oklahoma and led to a touchdown. The Sooners began chipping away at the Boise lead and found themselves down eight as time was winding down in the fourth quarter.
With less than two minutes to play Oklahoma scored a touchdown on a 5 yard pass from Thompson to Quentin Chaney and succeeded on the two-point conversion. The game appeared to be heading toward overtime. But on the following play; Marcus Walker picked off Boise quarterback, Jared Zabransky. Walker returned the interception for a touchdown and appeared to kill the Bronco’s fighting spirit.
Down by seven with less than a minute to play, it appeared that Boise would have to settle for a moral victory against the almighty Sooners. But on a seemingly impossible fourth and eighteen, the Broncos executed what can only be described as the perfect play. Zabransky connected on a pass of about sixteen yards, which was redirected on a lateral to Jerard Rabb who took it in for six. The key to the play was the initial pass, which was long enough to make Sooner defenders believe the initial receiver would go for the first down himself. Now the game was certainly heading for overtime and the fun was just beginning.
On the first play of overtime, Adrian Peterson broke off a 25 yard touchdown run. Once again, it appeared that Cinderella’s run was over. But the Broncos went on a seven-play drive that included a fourth down conversion for a touchdown. Instead of forcing a second overtime, Boise coach, Chris Petersen, elected to go for the win.
On another brilliantly executed play, the Broncos won the Fiesta Bowl. This time it was a ‘statue of liberty,’ that faked out every Oklahoma player on the field. It was now official: David had beaten Goliath.
This is the kind of excitement that college basketball gets every March when mid-major conferences get their shot at the big dogs on the biggest stage. But in football, we rarely get to see this at the end of the year. Boise St. had been looking for this opportunity for years and finally (with a new rule added to the BCS) got its shot.
Isn’t it ironic that the uninvited guest provided the excitement that the BCS will now use to defend their system?
