Boise Returns to Where the Party Started

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As a spectator with a vested interest, Kellen Moore remembers being on the edge of his seat along with everyone else at University of Phoenix Stadium as Boise State and Oklahoma put on a show for the ages during the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

Boise State, the proverbial little guy from the WAC, stood toe-to-toe with a college football giant, Oklahoma. And when the blows subsided, it was the Broncos who were left standing in a thrilling 43-42 overtime win. College football fans went wild as the non-automatic qualifying Broncos pulled off one of the biggest upsets in bowl history on the BCS stage.

"I think it was a real neat moment," said Moore, a sophomore quarterback for the Broncos who was their committed high school recruit at that time. "It just goes to show how well those guys before us had prepared and executed on all cylinders."

It's regarded as the best college football game in history and an instant classic because of the dramatic ending. Boise State and the Sooners combined to score 22 points in the final 86 seconds of regulation. Then, with OU holding a seven-point lead in overtime, the Broncos responded with a touchdown of their own, followed by a gutsy two-point conversion call where quarterback Jared Zabransky and running back Ian Johnson turned a sandlot play into college football legend.

Zabransky looked off the three wide receivers to his right as he smoothly handed the ball off to Johnson in a Statue of LIberty play. Johnson raced the other way into the end zone to turn college football on its ear and place Boise State on the map as a program to be reckoned with.

"It was a real big game," said Boise State junior safety Jeron Johnson, who was standing on the sidelines as a redshirt that Jan. 1, 2007 night. "After that, we got recruits we probably wouldn't have got and we had more people enroll in school, as well.

"We got a little bit more respect for beating that Oklahoma team. We came out with a chip on our shoulders, we were the underdogs and everybody expected us to lose so we had nothing to lose. That's what those guys who actually played in the game went out there to do, is prove the world wrong."

It didn't take the Broncos long as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead and led by 18 points in the third quarter before Oklahoma rallied and the Fiesta Bowl became a back-and-forth game that ended tied in regulation. That's when Boise State became the team that could.

And as if winning the game wasn't enough, Johnson warmed the nation's heart even more when he immediately went to his girlfriend, a Boise State cheerleader, and proposed on bended knee.

The game became one of the did-you-see-that moments of the decade.

"I think it was pretty big just because of all the national exposure and attention we got," said Boise State junior defensive end Ryan Winterswyk, who was on the sideline as a redshirt that night. "We got a lot of national recognition from it like guys winning the ESPY's and things like that. That definitely brought a lot of face time to our program."

Just like that, the Broncos went from a school with a gadget offense and the funky blue turf to one that had earned the respect and fear of ever major college football program. Chris Petersen, who was in his first season as head coach, quickly became the hot offensive mind that everyone would watch after his imaginative play calling kept the more celebrated Bob Stoops on his heels.

Sixth-ranked Boise State returns to the scene of its biggest win Monday night where it will take on fellow non-automatic qualifier TCU -- a matchup of two undefeated teams -- in a Fiesta Bowl that is being billed as the BCS Buster Bowl.

But a lot of the attention leading up to this year's game has focused on the night the Broncos shocked the country and gave hope to all the less powerful FBS programs.

"I think it was big, it certainly it opened a lot of people's eyes to what's going on in Boise, Idaho," said Petersen, who is now in his fourth season leading Boise State. "Some of that is good, some that is not so good. The microscope kind of intensifies on you a little bit, but overall it has been very, very good for our program."

After that win, the number of academic applicants interested in going to Boise State shot up, facilities started to improve as it became much easier for the football program to raise funds and to recruit to the school where winter shows up early and leaves late. Those were the benefits from the free advertising Boise State received from the national stage.

Petersen says without a doubt that game and that win served as defining moment for Boise State, which had become the cradle of coaches after Houston Nutt, Dirk Koetter and Hawkins both parlayed a lot less national success into bigger jobs. Petersen has chose to remain in Boise, shunning overtures from such major programs as UCLA and Washington.

"I think there are certain games at certain times in everybody's program that if you can come through it takes you to that next step," Petersen said. "Certainly that was one of them.

"We've been doing some good things and Boise State has been doing a lot of good things long before I've been there. But it was one of those things on that stage that really put a lot of eyes on us and made people say 'What are they doing?'

"There is no question that's one of those opportunities that helped us take the next step."

Interestingly, the players say that game isn't brought up that often among the team. Only fullbacks Richie Brockel and Andy Silsby remain on the team from players who played that season. The other members of the team who were there that night were redshirts who played on the scout team.

"You hear a lot around town because that was kind of a real good thing for the fans," Winterswyk said. "They loved that and they still talk about it.

"Around the football room, we don't talk about it too much. It's a whole different deal this year."

But Boise State, which has become the top program in the WAC, has parlayed that success into continued success with bowl appearances in every season since. The Broncos have lost just one game in the last two seasons, a Poinsettia Bowl defeat to TCU last year.

This season a relatively young Broncos team has put together a 13-0 season primarily on the strength of the nation's top scoring offense to earn a spot back in the BCS.

Now, for the juniors who were redshirted during the 2006-07 season, this is chance to shine.

"I remember just wishing that I was on the punt team or something," Winterswyk said. "So I'm pretty stoked to be playing in this game now. It's going to be fun."