If you missed the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, you missed maybe the best game of 2007 and it happened on January 1. I won’t recall the whole game, but the last three minutes plus overtime were worth the wait. Oklahoma was trailing 28-20 with about 2:30 left in the game. The Sooners drove down field and scored a TD leaving a two-point conversion to tie. They converted on the second attempt - after a pass interference call on the first try.

With the game knotted at 28, Boise St. took over on offense. With only 1:56 left, they were obviously trying to get into field goal range before the 4th quarter ended. The first play of the drive resulted in a Sooner interception returned for a touchdown. The Sooners took the 35-28 lead after the extra point try. With less than 90 seconds on the clock, the Boise St. Broncos marched the ball down the field to the Sooners’ 43 yard line. The Sooners sacked QB Jared Zabransky for an eight-yard loss. The ball was placed on the Broncos’ 49. Three failed pass attempts left the Broncos a 4th down and 18 yards to go with 23 seconds left to play in the game.

There seemed to be no desparation on the Broncos’ sidelines. Zabransky and his offense broke the huddle in the shotgun formation. The ball was snapped, and the receivers hit their routes. The 4th down pass was caught in the slot, but short of the line to gain. As the Sooners’ secondary closed in on Drisen James, he turned and pitched the ball to another receiver - Jared Rabb, who ran the ball into the end zone for the TD. The hook and lateral! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I’ve seen the play before, but never have I seen it sold as perfectly as I did last night. It was a masterpiece, but the fun was just beginning now that the score is tied at 35.

The overtime period begins with the Sooners on offense. It took one snap and hand off to star running back Adrian Peterson for the Sooners to score the opening TD of the overtime. The extra point put the Sooners up 42-35. It was Boise St’s turn.

A few  hand-offs and a short pass got the Broncos down inside the five. The Broncos ran another trick play where the starting QB Zabransky isn’t even on the field. The ball was snapped to a wide receiver, who made the TD pass to bring the Broncos back to within one point. Rather than going for the tie and a second OT round, the Broncos decided to go for it all and convert for two points.

I thought the decision was gutsy, but not smart at the time. Little did I know that the Broncos were going to put on another show. The ball is place on the “x” at the two yard line. Boise St. lines up with three wide outs to the right, and a running back in the backfield. Zabransky is in the shotgun. The ball is snapped, and at first glance it looks like a pump-and-go to the right - stacked with wideouts. I didn’t catch it until it was over, but the Broncos ran the Statue of Liberty play, where the pass is a fake. Zabransky hands the ball off to his back Johnson, who runs it to the left and in for the two points untouched.

It was amazing to see some of the plays I used to call in the backyard with my friends on national TV. The play calling was some of the gutsiest I’ve ever seen in an organized game. You could tell how much fun the team was having, and it didn’t matter if they lost, they had already won. I’m astonished with the level of composure the Boise St. players kept when it looked like they had lost the game. They kept themselves in the game with discipline, guts, and the will to win. For their efforts I applaud them.

I do think this games serves as a great example of how wrong the BCS system is. Boise St. should have lost big last night (according to the computers), but their poise and professionalism, will to succeed, and sheer football skills said otherwise. The BCS is a sore spot for me, because I believe that any NCAA Division 1-A school with an undefeated record (who is BCS bowl eligible) should be in the national championship game before any other NCAA Division 1-A school with at least one loss. So this year, the national championship should have been decided between OSU and Boise St., not Florida, but this is not a BCS rant - this is a kudos to the 2006-2007 Boise St. Broncos. Congratulations.