The question of ‘Can the little dog run with the big dog’ was presented at the 36th annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, when the season’s underdogs, Boise State University, bested Oklahoma University on Monday January 1st.
Boise State played a miraculous game, beating the Big 12 Conference champion school, Oklahoma, 43-42 in overtime. Hope for Boise State was low when Oklahoma opened overtime with a touchdown on the first play. The University of Phoenix Stadium was full of screaming OU fans, when the exhausted Broncos pulled out a retired play called The Statue of Liberty. It was all or nothing for Boise State, QB Jared Zabransky faked the throw to the right, then handed off behind his back to RB Ian Johnson, who then ran the ball in for the final touchdown, giving the Broncos the win.
Oklahoma believed the game would be an easy victory. Boise State won the opening toss, but deferred kicking until the second half. Personal fouls were handed to both teams in the first half, as they both came out with a physical start. Drisan James scored the first touchdown of the game with a 49 yard pass from Zabransky. Boise held their own through the first quarter, ending with a score of 14-7. The lead signaled that the Broncos weren’t going down without a fight.
The second quarter got interesting when OU’s Garrett Hartley scored a 31-yard field goal, putting OU back in the game with a score of 14-10. The referees were calling offsides, penalties, and fouls left and right. By the 3-minute mark, OU had used all of their time outs while BSU still had all three. Tensions were high when BSU’s Drisan James fired back with another touchdown 33 seconds before the half.
Boise’s fast start put Oklahoma back 11 points at the beginning of the first half. BSU opened the third quarter with a sloppy throw, allowing Sooners running back Adrian Peterson to swoop in for the interception. The Bronco’s regained themselves and safety Marty Tadman scored on a 27 yard interception return, putting Boise up 28-10 after a field goal by Anthony Montgomery. Oklahoma fans felt hopeless as the clock wound down. Oklahoma’s wide receiver Jermaine Hardison threw an incomplete pass with 6:15 left but luckily regained possession after the ball hit a BSU’s leg on a punt. The Sooners slowly made their way 10 yards from the goal as they weakened the Broncos defense, giving Adrian Peterson a chance to take it in for the final touchdown of the quarter with a field goal, making the score 28-20.
With BSU on edge and OU only one touchdown away from a tie, the fans wondered if Oklahoma would be able to completely wear down Boise State. Jared Zabransky made another bad pass that led to an interception by Oklahoma. Hope seems low for Boise fans, but with one sustained drive Boise can win. Boise made their first turnover of the game at 8:30 in the fourth, when Heisman trophy candidate, Ian Johnson let the ball slip from his fingers. More bad news for Boise came when OU gained momentum with a pass interference leading to a touchdown for Oklahoma, tying up the game with a score of 28-28. Oklahoma brings it home with a 33 yard interception touchdown by Marcus Walker. Boise needed a miracle to tie up the game, and with a 36 yard gain and 30 seconds left, Boise runs the circus play. Zabransky throws the ball to Drisan James who switch played to Jerard Rabb bringing in a final touchdown for Boise State. The quarter comes to an end and the game goes into overtime!
Boise wins the toss and opt to go second in overtime. Oklahoma manages to score on their first play with a 25 yard run down the line by Peterson, leaving no room for error on the Bronco’s side. By this point the score is 35-42 and Boise State is exhausted, the need to score is inevitable. The Broncos get the first down and almost lost possession to a fumble. The Boise crowd got excited when wide receiver Vinny Perretta threw a beautiful 5 yard pass to Derek Schouman, giving the Broncos the confidence to go for a final 2 point conversion. They ended the game with the Statue of Liberty play, when Ian Johnson ran the ball home. OU put up a good fight with a final score of 43-42. Fans cheered and celebrated the victory, with a proposal from Boise’s RB Ian Johnson to girlfriend, Broncos cheerleader Chrissy Popadics, moments later. This dream team proves that ‘ It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.’ GO BRONCOS!!
- Keana Cowden
This was truly one of the great games in college football. Perhaps never before or since has the metaphor of David and Goliath been used more often. While much of the attention in the aftermath was focused on the 3 "trick plays", the irony is that with about 5 minutes to go the Fox announcer actually comments about Boise having done it without any of the trickery. Very fun to read your summary.
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