The Cinderella team in this year's BCS was Boise State. The Broncos came into the Fiesta Bowl with a 12-0 record and had earned the chance to play one game on the big stage against Oklahoma. With the eyes of college football looking over the match-up in Glendale, Boise State hoped to pull off the upset to not only finish their season undefeated but to move the landscape of college football one step closer to a possible playoff. The initial start to the Fiesta Bowl heavily favored Boise State. Oklahoma just couldn't stop the BSU offense and at the same time had trouble getting their offense going. Basically, what you need to know is that with 8:05 to go in the third quarter, Boise State led 28-10 after returning an interception for a touchdown. This is when things got interesting. Oklahoma's comeback started with a horrific break going against Boise State on a punt return. Oklahoma couldn't get anything going and was forced to punt, and on the return recovered a fumble after the ball took a bad bounce off of a Boise State player. Adrian Peterson soon was in the endzone for the touchdown from 8 yards out, making it a 28-17 lead. After kicking a field goal to make it a one possession game, Oklahoma finally drove down the field and scored a touchdown on a tipped pass that was caught in the back of the endzone by Quentin Chaney. Needing a 2-point conversion to tie, Oklahoma finally got into the endzone without any penalties on a third try. 28-28 is what the scoreboard read before Oklahoma picked off a pass and ran it back for a touchdown, giving them a 35-28 lead and looking as though it clinched them the win. With 1:02 remaining, Boise State took over and had to score a touchdown to keep their dreams alive. Fast forward to 4th and 18 with 18 seconds left and Boise State's hopes looked to be fading. That was before Jared Zabransky completed a pass down field a few yards short of the first down marker. With the receiver running in one direction, taking Oklahoma's defense with him, he lateraled it back to Jerard Rabb who was able to run into the endzone for the game-tying score. Heading into overtime I personally thought that I had seen the best play, but in reality the best was yet to come. Adrian Peterson ran for a 25 yard touchdown on the first play in overtime shattering most of Boise State's momentum for the time being. With another 4th down and its hopes on the line, Boise State started digging deep in the playbook. Jared Zabransky went in motion leaving a wide receiver to throw a pass in trick play form to tie the game up. He did just that and cut the lead to 1, making for the decision that faced Oregon State of whether or not to go for the win. Boise State did decide to go for the 2-point conversion and the win. The main reason behind this decision had to be the fact that BSU was running out of gas and coach Chris Peterson knew that. Nonetheless, the call was made and possibly one of the coolest plays was run. Jared Zabransky took the snap and faked a pass to the right side where a few receivers were lined up. The thing was the hand he pump-faked with was empty. Zabransky used his left hand to give the ball on a backwards type of handoff to Ian Johnson, who just ran into the endzone untouched. Ball game. Boise State wins in dramatic fashion 43-42. If you thought the story ended there then just wait until you hear this. Running back Ian Johnson, the player that scored the winning 2-point conversion, got down on one knee and proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend. She said yes and they do plan on getting married. If that doesn't scream storybook ending then I don't know what does. From the desperation pitch on a pass to send the game into overtime to the trick pass to the "Statue of Liberty" to the proposal, all made for a great game. I doubt that any game this great will ever happen again for sometime. I don't necessarily want to say this is the best game I've ever seen, but if not then it's pretty close. Plus, a team like Boise State upsetting Oklahoma puts the thought of what college football would be like with a playoff. Games like this year's Fiesta Bowl are something you see every March during the NCAA basketball tournament. Just imagine if this was an annual thing titled "December Madness." It's just a thought, but I truly think pressure to alter the BCS into a type of playoff will heat up greatly during the offseason.
