Boise's Trick Yields Another Fiesta Treat

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Despite an impressive body of work, what Boise State football is best known is the bag of tricks at the most unexpected of times.

Will of any of us ever forget the gutsy Statue of Liberty play on a two-point conversion that delivered the Broncos an improbable win over Oklahoma in overtime and marked their arrival on the national stage during the 2007 Fiesta Bowl? Who does such a thing in that situation, on that stage, against that type of opponent?

Obviously, these BCS-busting Broncos do.

Monday night, the Broncos were at it again. Minus only the last-minute timing, Boise used a gutsy fake punt on its own 33 midway through the fourth quarter to set up the go-ahead touchdown in a 17-10 Fiesta Bowl win over No. 3 TCU.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen might like to break from that trickery reputation, but it's hard to go against what works.

"I think that's what they expect out of us," Petersen said, "so we are happy to deliver as long as it gives us one more point than the other guys."

That's exactly what Monday night's call for a fake punt did, jump-starting a Broncos offense that couldn't find traction against TCU's nationally top-ranked defense. Spotting the desired coverage from TCU, Petersen gave punter Kyle Brotzman the go-ahead to fire a pass over the middle to Kyle Efaw on fourth-and-nine from the Broncos' 38.

The 29-yard completion paved the way for running back Doug Martin's 2-yard diving touchdown that broke a 10-10 tie with 7:21 remaining.

"That's a gutsy call. I'm glad it worked," said Efaw, who was named the Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP after finishing with four receptions for 75 yards. "Everyone did their job and we shifted out and they shifted out with it. So we knew it had a good chance.
"I looked at him and it was like 'We're running it.' I slid on the inside and ran up the field and he put it on the money and I didn't fumble so it was a good play."

TCU coach Gary Patterson, who told reporters last week he had looked at film as far back as five years ago on the Broncos to see all the tricks Petersen might have in store, knew it could be coming. But he found out as many opponents have, knowing the Broncos trickery is coming and stopping it are two separate things.

"They outcoached us on that play," said Patterson, whose team saw its slim chances to split the national championship dashed with its first loss of the season. "They made an adjustment. We had a guy on [Efaw], but they fanned and he came inside."

But that was far from the only time the Broncos caught the Horned Frogs off guard. Boise State, taking advantage of the month to prepare for TCU's high-powered offense, came out in a 3-2-6 defense that confused and ultimately stymied the Frogs.

TCU couldn't run the ball against the shifting unit and quarterback Andy Dalton certainly couldn't pass against with so many defenders in the passing lanes. Dalton was picked off three times, including Brandyn Thompson's 51-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave Boise State an early 7-0 lead.

Then in the end, Boise State's defense made two huge stops, one a drive in which the Frogs started from the Boise 31 but came up empty in four downs. Then in the Frogs final drive that started from their 1, Broncos safety Winston Venable jumped in front of receiver Antoine Hicks for the game-sealing interception at the Boise State 29.

"They were moving around a lot, they would line up in one thing and then shift the front," said Dalton, whocompleted 25 of 44 passes for 272 yards and one touchdown and three costly interceptions. "Early on, we didn't know exactly what they were doing out there."

That TCU phones went out for while early in the game, cutting off communications from the field to the offensive coordinators' booth, didn't help. But what hurt most is not knowing if the Broncos were going with a two, three or four-man defensive front.

They were able to limit the Frogs' potent rushing attack to just 36 yards on 20 attempts. The six secondary member sets then completely disrupted TCU's passing attack.

To make it all work, Boise State's star senior cornerback Kyle Wilson moved to safety in his final game in a Broncos uniform. But for the guy who came back to school this year just because of the bitter taste lingering from last year's 17-16 loss to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl, it was worth the move to avenge a troubling defeat.

"Defensive back is defensive back," said Wilson, who temporarily put Dalton out of the game on safety blitz late in the first quarter. "I just love making plays and to go out like this is really just incredible."

For the rest of the Broncos, the question is what's next? They lose just two senior starters off a squad that went 14-0 this season and has now won two BCS bowls in the last three years.

With quarterback Kellen Moore (23 of 39 for 211 yards) leading the way, the Broncos will likely enter next season with more hype and greater expectations than they've ever had. A possible top-five ranking and realistic shot at the BCS national championship could be in the offing for the WAC power that has lost just one game in the last two seasons.

Expectations should also be high for the Horned Frogs who lose just six senior starters off a team that seems to always have talented recruits in the wings. TCU went 12-1 this season and should be positioned for another run at the BCS.

Patterson quickly shot down any notion that Saturday's loss, while deflating, could be seen as a setback for his program.

"We're not going to take any backseat at his point in time," said Patterson, whose program was competing in its first BCS game but also its 11th bowl in the last 12 seasons. "We are going to keep trying to move forward and do the things we need to do."