Posted on 01/04/2007 11:24:18 PM PST by doug from upland
Gutsy Boise State Steals BCS Spotlight
By ANDREW BAGNATO Friday, January 05, 2007
Oklahoma players Rufus Alexander (42) and Carl Pendleton (68) react as Boise State's Ian Johnson (41) scores the game-winning two point conversion during the overtime of the Fiesta Bowl college football game, Monday, Jan. 1, 2007, in Glendale, Ariz.. Boise State won, 43-42. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The Boise State Broncos left their resort hotel Tuesday to make room for the Florida Gators, who arrived to prepare for next week's BCS title game against Ohio State. But the ninth-ranked Broncos remained the talk of college football on the day after their exhilarating 43-42 overtime victory over No. 7 Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday night in Glendale. That's what happens when a team comes out of the college football hinterlands and takes down a traditional powerhouse with plays that looked as if they were drawn up in the dirt.
For one day, at least, Boise State's victory cast a shadow over the Bowl Championship Series title game. Florida coach Urban Meyer and Ohio State's Jim Tressel both fielded questions about the upstart Broncos and their miraculous victory.
"I hate to say this, I fell asleep and my wife kept hitting me," Meyer said after the Gators landed at Sky Harbor Airport. "She said it was the greatest football game she ever saw."
Shelley Meyer wasn't alone. In a crowded bowl season, Boise State's victory was an unexpected delight that turned the tradition-laden Rose Bowl between Michigan and USC, which preceded it, into a virtual junior-varsity game.
"This probably goes down in the history of college football," said Broncos quarterback Jared Zabransky, who threw three touchdown passes to earn offensive most valuable player honors.
The Broncos blew an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter, then twice overcame touchdown deficits _ once in the final minute and again in overtime.
Two plays made it happen and left fans buzzing as they returned to work on Tuesday.
The first came on a hook-and-lateral pass with the Broncos trailing 35-28 and facing fourth-and-18 from the 50-yard line in the final seconds of regulation. Zabransky hit Drisan James at Oklahoma's 35, and James pitched the ball to Jerard Rabb, who outran the pursuit to the end zone with 7 seconds to play.
"You hope you never have to call it because it's not a good situation," said Boise State coach Chris Petersen, who is 13-0 as a head coach. "But we work on it every week, once a week on Friday. The guys love it."
That sent the game into overtime. After the Sooners' Adrian Peterson scored on a 25-yard run on the first play, the Broncos tied it up on a fourth-down pass from receiver Vinny Perretta to Derek Schouman.
Sensing that his players were exhausted, Petersen had already decided to go for 2. "We liked the play we had for a 2-point conversion," Petersen said. "It really wasn't a difficult decision at that point."
The Broncos lined up with three wide receivers to the right. Zabransky faked a pass to that side, then handed the ball behind his back to tailback Ian Johnson, who swept around left end and into the end zone.
The Sooners fell for it hook, line and sinker.
"We were kind of like in awe the way (Zabransky) did the misdirection with the ball," Oklahoma linebacker Rufus Alexander said.
If either play had failed, the Broncos would have become a footnote. Instead, the Western Athletic Conference champions became a prime exhibit in the case for opening the BCS to unaffiliated conferences.
"Boise State controlled the game," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. "After Oklahoma came back, when Boise State had to pull out the trick plays, they pulled them out. And they didn't execute them against Sacramento State on Sept. 1. They executed them perfectly against Oklahoma on Jan. 1.
"I think it will, hopefully, at least diminish some of the fear or the concerns that were out there within the college football community that we didn't belong," Benson said.
Non-BCS conferences are 2-0 in BCS games. Two years ago, Mountain West champion Utah crushed Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Meyer coached the Utes that night, but he had already accepted a big-money offer from the Gators. Two years later, he discounted the distinction between the six BCS conferences and their oft-overlooked brethren.
"I think that the separation of BCS, non-BCS, I think that era is over," Meyer said. "Everybody knows what Oklahoma was getting into _ everybody that knows football."
Still, there's a vast difference in resources. According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, Oklahoma reported that its football program earned $33.7 million and spent $13.8 million in 2005-06, the most recent figures available. Boise State reported that its football team earned $8.5 million and spent $4.5 million.
The Broncos were only invited to the Fiesta because the BCS, facing threats of federal legislation and lawsuits, eased access for unaffiliated conferences this year when it added the stand-alone title game. A year ago, Boise State would not have been guaranteed a BCS slot.
"I think that it is harder for some of the smaller conference schools to make it, but the BCS committee and the whole process has made it easier access, which is the right thing to do," Meyer said.
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
I watched most of the game, started watching at 14-0 Boise in first quarter.
I knew Oklahoma would win......... It was inevitable.
I saw the interception, 25 yd TD. Oklahoma Wins!!!
oh...............
4th and 18..............Touchdown???
OT
Won't take long.
First play TOUCHDOWN.......... Oklahoma wins!!
Oh? Boise gets a chance?
Touchdown?? No way they get two!! Oklahoma wins!!!
oh?
Staute of Liberty........... WTF????????????
He scored?????????? no way.
BOISE WINS?
I have never enjoyed being proved wrong as much as I did in this game!!!
I had to watch it again, just to make sure.
Unbelievable and huge congratulations to Boise State!!!!!!!!!!!
I second that!!
Let's be friends. I'm not taking offense. Sometimes people respond to the wrong person by mistake. It was just a friendly suggestion.
Ohio State would not fear Boise State's brains. The Buckeye's know how to win football games. They win them big. They win them ugly. But they win.
That is the kind of Big Ten confidence we see destroyed in Pasadena year after year.
Yes, let's be friends. You are one of the giants on FR.
Well, ya do have to be a die-hard Sun Devils fan, but it was something for the ages, just like the Boise State game.
you need to review the rules.
Just ask Jake Plummer...
That's what Oklahoma was saying. The unfortunate thing is that midwestern teams, even Ohio State, lapse into predictability. That's why they steer clear of playing the "speed" teams of the WAC and Mountain West.
They also choke in the NCAA basketball championships (for the most part). Do not understand that either.
But what kind of fan would I be if I did not say "fear the sweater vest!"
That's the whole fun of being rated number one. It has been a marvelous year, and I have enjoyed it thoroughly.
On January 9th, we will know the rest of the story. Either the sweater vest prevailed... (or it did not - but you did not hear that from me. ssshhhh!)
I'll fix it for you: That is almost unbelievabe for a school with such a quality program PR machine.
I'm sorry... I know who Jake Plummer is, but I am not familiar with his bowl record. Sorry.
Besides being able to recruit the top quarterbacks and running backs from high school, the big schools also have another huge advangage --- they get the behemoth linemen. Does anyone know the stats of the weight of the Oklahoma and Boise State lines? I would expect that Oklahoma outweighed them by 30 pounds a man. As surprising as anything is how well Boise State did in the trenches.
It's a matter of speed and positioning. Boise State had almost no problem with Oklahoma's defensive line, protecting the quarterback well all through the contest.
Ha ha! Whether I'm right or not depends upon the game, the teams, the weather and the circumstances. But, for certain, the midwestern teams seem very unwilling to take on the Mountain West or WAC. This, of course, results in the sports press denigrating the Mountain West and WAC because they don't have enough midwestern teams on the schedule. Sigh.
It was not meant as a snazzy reply, but rather when ASU had the chance to be the National Champions, Ohio State busted their way across the field and won the Rose Bowl. Your description was an accurate one. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't artistic, but it got the job done (much to my chagrin).
Interview with Ian Johnson sometime before the game. This is a quality kid --- http://youtube.com/watch?v=61iGn0keHuU
He just needs a few less "I means"
Seriously, no way Boise plays a game like that a second time. That was one for the ages.
No doubt Ohio is the odds on favorite. I just wish we (USC) had not fallen asleep against those damn Bruins!!
Maybe we can meet you guys in Pasadena in 2008!!
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