The enduring Power
of
Bronco Nation
COURTESY BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY
In the last two decades, the force of Bronco Nation has grown with the Broncos’ prowess on and off the Blue. BY MICAH DREW
Ask a Boise State University football fan to name the most iconic game in history and only one will roll off their tongue: the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. The game was the ultimate David and Goliath story, in no little part due to the extensive media coverage leading up to kickoff. That game started a passionate conversion for many Boise State fans, both casually ignorant locals and nationally intrigued sports fans, that continues to this day. The Broncos, while a successful team in the years leading up to the 2006-2007 12
season, wore their underdog status proudly. The team was 12-0 on the season and had easily clinched the WAC title. Their opponents, however, were the 11-1 Big Ten Champion Oklahoma Sooners, a team that just two years prior had been ranked No. 2 in the nation, losing its bowl game to top-ranked USC. Boise State was breaking in a young new head coach, Chris Peterson, who had been promoted up from offensive coordinator after the departure of Dan Hawkins. In his first season in charge, Peterson led the Broncos to a perfect season record and the team was only the
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second non-BCS conference program to earn a bid to a bowl game of Tostitos Fiesta significance. For even the most casual football fans who were tangentially aware of the Broncos’ bowl chances on January 4, the three trick plays that secured one of the most exciting wins in college football spill off the tongue like a mantra. The 50-yard hook and lateral on 4th and 18 to tie the game with seconds left. An options pass off a snap to the wide receiver for the overtime TD, leaving the Broncos down by one. The Statue of Liberty for a two-point conversion.
