In what was arguably the best dressed game in college football history on Monday night, the Broncos were repeatedly referred to as the ?little guys? by play by play announcer Brent Musburger.? It was not an insult but a term of endearment. Kellen Moore can attest to that statement after he was named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Washington by setting Washington state career records for completions,787, touchdown passes , 173 as well as state single-season records for completions, 317 as a junior, yards 4,600 as a junior, and touchdown passes (67 as a senior).
However, Moore was only recruited by three schools because of his relative diminutive size for a stationary pocket quarterback.? On Monday night, the little man made the biggest plays of the night. ?For a moment, Monday night, the thought began to creep in that the Broncos had come a long ways since September 5, 2005?but not far enough.? That was the year, Boise State, coming off an undefeated regular season took their act down to Sanford Stadium against the Georgia Bulldogs.? The result was a 48-13 drubbing by UGA.
After the Broncos took a 17-0 lead and a ton of momentum into the second quarter, I reminded myself that Boise State led 28-10 at one point during the 2007 Fiesta Bowl before coming a well timed lateral away from losing 35-28.? Sure enough, the Hokies rallied from a 17-0 deficit to take a 21-20 lead in the 3rd.
A Week 1 loss for Boise State, would have been the equivalent of Quentin Tarantino killing off ?The Bride? in the first act of Kill Bill, Haley Joel Osment telling Bruce Willis he was dead in the first 15 minutes and more devastating than finding out John Locke wasn?t special.? Instead of getting a classic run, we?d be stuck with a watered down Boise State campaign and daydreams of what might have been.
The tension was palpable before the game and was electric afterwards.? I can?t remember a team with so much symbolism behind it that is fighting for more than just a symbolic victory.? It was a weekend ripe with symbolism for non-BCS squads.
We now live in a world where the president is black, Shaquille O?Neal is a Celtic and an undefeated Florida Gators unit drop 4 spots in the AP poll while two non-BCS programs vault into the top 5 is September.? TCU is now #4 in the nation ahead of Texas and Boise State has earned eight first place votes.
TCU defeated my Pac-10 title favorite, Oregon State in a physically dominating fashion by limiting the Beavers passing attack to 9/25 passing.? BYU defeated Jake Locker?s Washington Huskies On Thursday night, with the aid of a platoon quarterback unit led by senior Riley Nelson and freshman Jake Heaps who chose BUYU over Washington.? While no one was looking, Fresno State defeated Cincinnati.
Utah embarked on their final college football campaign as a non-automatic BCS qualifier before assimilating into the beast they once aimed to slay by defeating Pittsburgh again.? The 2004 Fiesta Bowl victory by Urban Meyer?s Utes over Pittsburgh began the non-AQ integration into the BCS? exclusive country club.? Two years later, Jared Zabranski, Ian Johnson and the Boise State Broncos joined ?The Resistance? by launching a guerilla attack with the Statue of Liberty on the Oklahoma Sooners in the same bowl game.? Two years later, the Utes dismantled Nick Saban?s Crimson Tide in every facet of the game.
Last January, Boise State and TCU became the first pair of non-AQ teams to play one another in a BCS bowl game.? The 2010 season is a culmination of the past six years of struggle.? The stars have aligned for Boise State specifically, however, TCU and Utah have already written their triumphant preambles for Monday night.
After Urban Meyer blazed the trail, he zipped down to Gainesville and Kyle Whittingham took over the headset and hasn?t relinquished the playbook yet.? You can?t Meyer for picking a five star recruit slot machine at Florida, but Kyle Whittingham?s unwillingness to blink at offers from BCS powerhouses has kept a successful line of continuity intact at Utah.? The same goes for TCU?s Gary Patterson, in his tenth season and Boise State?s Chris Petersen who has watched his predecessor Dan Hawkins struggle at Colorado.? While at Boise State, Dan Hawkins was 53-11 in five seasons.? After compiling a 17-33 record at Colorado, Hawkins? job is in more jeopardy than Ken Jennings.
Hawkins? successor Chris Peterson has gone 50-4 after last night, including three undefeated regular seasons since 2006. Since assuming head coaching responsibilities, Whittingham has gone 48-17 and is 5-0 in bowl games.
After Urban Meyer accepted the head coaching job at Florida, then-Utah defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham was offered the top job at BYU.? Chris Peterson turned down an interview for the USC Trojans head coaching position, which makes sense considering the volume of California recruits Peterson is able to lure to Boise State.? After Lane Kiffin bolted for Southern Cal, Kyle Whittingham was offered the Tennessee Vols head job.
Amazingly enough, Boise State?s only loss in the past two seasons came in a down to the wire loss against TCU in the 2008 Poinsetta Bowl.? Monday night, Boise State will cap off kick off weekend with an away game in Virginia Tech?s backyard (and about five from mine).? However, all the thunderous buildup, hype and excitement would have been for naught if the Broncos were outscored by the Hokies once the clock winded down to 0:00.
Said AP voter Brett McMurphy of AOL Fanhouse, who had Boise State No. 1 ?”This was no fluke, (The Broncos) outgained Virginia Tech and hung 33 on the Hokies. The last two teams to put up more than 30 against defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s defense were Alabama in 2009 and LSU in 2007, which went on to win the national title.
While the Butch Davis? Tar Heels was forced to suspend his entire defense due to an agent?s scandal, his former team in South Beach is facing allegations from a booster, who served time for his involvement in a Ponzi scheme.? Nevin Shapiro claims in a forthcoming that the ?U? is complicit in major violations involving 100 former players in the past decade. ?The USC Trojans have been forced to take a two year sabbatical from post-season play while Reggie Bush may be stripped of his Heisman Trophy just weeks after writers retracted the 2004 Grantland Rice Award.
Boise State has done everything right.? They?re the equivalent of pre-Thankisgiving Tiger Woods.? Their world is all clear blue skies and blue turf.? There has to be a few mistresses in Boise State?s closet.? College football fans who are used to the police blotter taking up more and more space on the thinning sports pages deserve at least a few arrests for cow tipping in Idaho.
You?ll be lead to believe September 25th versus Oregon State is their final test, and that Boise State?s remaining schedule is against high school clubs, however, ?as we saw from Ole Miss? loss to Jacksonville State this weekend, no game is a gimme.? However, this team appears to have to the mental makeup to handle the hype.
The final month of the season should be a rigorous final exam for the Broncos.? November 19th, they host Fresno State which beat defending Big East champion, Cincinnati on Saturday.? Then, they get a visit by Colin Kaepernick and Nevada?s potent pistol offense.? Last season, the Wolfpack became the first team to have three players rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.? In the final game of the regular season, they face two opponents; Utah State and stare down the barrel of history.
This weekend, the Broncos rest.? In two weeks, Boise State goes on the road against Wyoming and this weekend Virginia Tech hosts? James Madison.
