| Highlight reel of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl | |
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Monday, January 1, 2007
Boise State (12-0)* vs. Oklahoma (12-1)* _____ 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
New Year's Day, 2007 - I must admit a bit of irritation when I first saw the Fiesta Bowl matchup of Boise State vs. Oklahoma. I mean, why couldn't they match Boise State, with no losses in 2006, against Rutgers, with only one loss on the year, instead of sticking them in bowls against two powerful Big 12 teams, Oklahoma and Kansas State? Before the Sooners caught their breath, Boise State had a 14-0 lead and led 28-10 at halftime. With about two minutes left in the game, Oklahoma scored to bring the score to 28-26. The Sooners had to go for two to tie, hoping to take the game to overtime. It took three tries, because of two penalties, but the Sooners tied it. With a little more than a minute left to play, the Broncos had other ideas about going to overtime, but the first pass was intercepted by Oklahoma and returned for a TD. Leading 35-28, Oklahoma kicked off for the second time in only a few seconds, and with 52 seconds left in the game, Boise State started driving and scored with 4 seconds left in the game on the most unusual, best-looking, and most smoothly executed hook-and-lateral play I've seen in more than fifty years of watching college football.
35-35. Overtime begins, and Oklahoma scores on the first play.
42-35. Oklahoma. Time after time, it appears that Boise State is stopped, but they grind out two first downs then score with the quarterback going in motion to the left and a receiver taking the snap, rolling to the right sideline and throwing a pass to the tight end.
42-41 Oklahoma. Boise State reveals its Statue of Liberty with a fake pass towards a Bronco trio in the right corner of the end zone, and with the ball well-hidden on the right hip, the handoff is made and no one can catch the runner to the left corner of the end zone.
Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42. In 61 years of life (and I attended my first college game at age 8), I don't think I've ever been so elated at the end of a bowl game.
And for an absolutely perfect ending, a Boise State star player (the one who carried the ball across the goal line for the winning two-point conversion) proposed to the head cheerleader on national t.v. at the end of his post-game interview.
*** stars in my eyes ***
==========================================
It's been quite a day, January 1, 2007. After the Boise State victory, it no longer seems to matter that Arkansas lost to Wisconsin, that West Virginia defeated Georgia Tech, or that Penn State topped Tennessee, all three come-from-behind victories (I predicted the first two and missed the third, but I wanted the other three to win). Auburn came through with a win over Nebraska, as predicted, and as desired, and so did Southern Cal, showing the nation that if either team in the Rose Bowl deserved to play for the National Championship, maybe it wasn't Michigan after all, as so many people had opined. The Trojans more or less trounced the Wolverines. Like a number of other pollsters, I have a rating system which had Ohio State and Michigan ranked first and second. But that's on paper. On the field, things are often a bit different than they are on paper.
I now love Boise State, obnoxious blue field and all. Their uniform colors may hurt my eyes, but their spirit inspires my soul. Go, Broncos! You guys made me happy today.
<><><><><> old guy disclaimer <><><><><><><>
It's late; I'm in my sixties; If I missed some of the
details, y`all give me a break - This is the way I
remember it. Feel free to post a comment to this
blog to correct my imperfect recollection.
~~~~~~~~ about the records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The title shows the team records prior to the bowl game.
Since Oklahoma didn't really lose to Oregon, I have not
recorded that game as a loss. The NCAA record books
will record the final records, after playing the bowl game,
as 13-0 for Boise State and 11-3 for Oklahoma.
35-35. Overtime begins, and Oklahoma scores on the first play.
42-35. Oklahoma. Time after time, it appears that Boise State is stopped, but they grind out two first downs then score with the quarterback going in motion to the left and a receiver taking the snap, rolling to the right sideline and throwing a pass to the tight end.
42-41 Oklahoma. Boise State reveals its Statue of Liberty with a fake pass towards a Bronco trio in the right corner of the end zone, and with the ball well-hidden on the right hip, the handoff is made and no one can catch the runner to the left corner of the end zone.
Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42. In 61 years of life (and I attended my first college game at age 8), I don't think I've ever been so elated at the end of a bowl game.
And for an absolutely perfect ending, a Boise State star player (the one who carried the ball across the goal line for the winning two-point conversion) proposed to the head cheerleader on national t.v. at the end of his post-game interview.
*** stars in my eyes ***
==========================================
It's been quite a day, January 1, 2007. After the Boise State victory, it no longer seems to matter that Arkansas lost to Wisconsin, that West Virginia defeated Georgia Tech, or that Penn State topped Tennessee, all three come-from-behind victories (I predicted the first two and missed the third, but I wanted the other three to win). Auburn came through with a win over Nebraska, as predicted, and as desired, and so did Southern Cal, showing the nation that if either team in the Rose Bowl deserved to play for the National Championship, maybe it wasn't Michigan after all, as so many people had opined. The Trojans more or less trounced the Wolverines. Like a number of other pollsters, I have a rating system which had Ohio State and Michigan ranked first and second. But that's on paper. On the field, things are often a bit different than they are on paper.
I now love Boise State, obnoxious blue field and all. Their uniform colors may hurt my eyes, but their spirit inspires my soul. Go, Broncos! You guys made me happy today.
<><><><><> old guy disclaimer <><><><><><><>
It's late; I'm in my sixties; If I missed some of the
details, y`all give me a break - This is the way I
remember it. Feel free to post a comment to this
blog to correct my imperfect recollection.
~~~~~~~~ about the records~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The title shows the team records prior to the bowl game.
Since Oklahoma didn't really lose to Oregon, I have not
recorded that game as a loss. The NCAA record books
will record the final records, after playing the bowl game,
as 13-0 for Boise State and 11-3 for Oklahoma.
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