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BOISE STATE VS. OKLAHOMA: TEN YEARS LATER THE gREATEST cOLLEgE fOOTBALL gAME EVER pLAYEd Introduction .........................................................9 Fan memories ............................................... 10, 34 Fiesta Bowl game story .................................... 12-13 2006 Season recap ............................................. 14 2006 Roster ...................................................... 38 TRICK PLAYS Hook and lateral............................................... 16 Halfback pass ................................................... 31 Statue Left ...................................................... 47 FLASHBACKS Chris Petersen ............................................. 18-19 Korey Hall ...................................................... 21

Vinny Perretta ............................................ 22-23 Thom Brennaman ........................................ 26-27 Orlando Scandrick ............................................ 28 Ian Johnson ................................................ 32-33 Jared Zabransky .......................................... 36-37 Derek Schouman .............................................. 41 Bryan Harsin ............................................... 44-45 Jerard Rabb ..................................................... 50 Marty Tadman ............................................ 52-53 Drisan James ............................................... 56-57 Gerald Alexander ........................................ 60-61

UE TURF fIRST fIESTA is a magazine produced by the Idaho press-Tribune and BlueTurfSports.com

Coordinated by B.J. RAINS Designed by BRADLEY GUIRE and B.J. RAINS Cover illustration and play illustrations by BRADLEY GUIRE News photographs coordinated by GREG KRELLER

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STAff President and publisher: MATT DAVISON Finance director: RHONDA McMURTRIE Advertising director: MICHELLE ROBINSON Audience director: SHELLEY THAYER The player and coach flashbacks were taken Editor: SCOTT McINTOSH from interviews on ESPN Sports editor: JOHN WUSTROW Boise and approved by each individual.

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introduction The Boise State football team took the field against Big 12 champion Oklahoma in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007. The Sooners were seen as the heavy favorite — to everyone except those inside the Boise State locker room. The Broncos burst out to a shocking 28-10 lead, but needed a miraculous comeback just to force overtime. It was there in the extra period where Boise State capped off one of the greatest games ever played with a stunning 43-42 victory. The win propelled Boise State into the forefront of college football and paved the way for two more Fiesta Bowl victories and a number of facility upgrades, including a new $22 million football facility. The Boise State football program is now a national brand, in part because of what took place on a special night at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. What follows is a look back at the night Boise State arrived on the national scene 10 years ago....

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fan memories I

was in attendance at the game that night. It was my first-ever college football bowl game. I ended up with tickets just a few rows up from the field in the end-zone where all the “magic” happened at the end of the game. I remember, when Zabransky threw the interception early in the game, a gentleman next to me stated, “well, there’s goes the game” and he got up and left. The area I was sitting was a mix of Boise and Oklahoma fans. Everyone in my section was highfiving after the game, even Oklahoma fans were impressed by the showing! Definitely the greatest football game I have ever witnessed!

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e are avid Bronco fans! We were wintering in Arizona in late 2006-2007. A week before the Fiesta Bowl, we received a call from Vanessa Lootens. She was the girl on horseback for BSU who ran around the football field after a Bronco touchdown. She didn’t want to trailer her horse from Idaho to Arizona. We loaned her our palomino horse named Lemonade, a ranch and rodeo horse. Lemonade led the team out onto the field for the 2007 Fiesta Bowl!

He is now retired and living in green pastures at age 28!

— Ken and Lynda Wood

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he 2007 Boise State Fiesta Bowl was one of our best family vacations ever! At the time our daughter, Ali, was 12 years old and our son, Alex, was 7. Their dad, Robert Draper, played football for BSU (1986-1990), so the kids were raised loving BSU football. I remember being so excited during the game because the team was playing so well. We were practically in tears when we threw the interception but we never gave up hope. We were loud and proud and so happy to be a part of that first BSU Fiesta Bowl victory!!!

— Rob and Melinda Draper

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I

was enjoying the game with my family in Wilder, Idaho. When Oklahoma intercepted the ball for the go-ahead touchdown, we all thought it was over. My mom went into the kitchen to wash dishes. The rest of us stayed in the living room for the last minute of the game.

When Zabransky threw to James for the lateral, I jumped up and screamed “he’s gonna score!” My mom had no idea what was going on. She rushed back into the living room to see the replay and to watch the overtime period.

— Jeremy Elliott

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iesta Bowl 2007 was the memory of a lifetime for my husband, John, and grandson, Colton, who was 11 at the time. Even driving to Arizona in the spontaneous caravan of cars from Idaho with Bronco flags flying, we had a blast. The photo is of a collage we made of mementos and newspaper clippings and a photo taken right at the end of the game that expresses it all.

— April McNeiece

— Jarrod Driskel

t the end of the first Fiesta Bowl in 2007, I dedicated a room in my house to the Blue and Orange. I have added after each win in the last two Fiesta Bowls. It was filmed in 2007 on Channel 6 Sports.

I have shown the room to a lot of people and they urged me to try and get it filmed again.

— Richard Miller

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a look back...

This is the game story that appeared in the Jan. 2, 2007, edition of the Idaho Press-Tribune...

Bronc-tastic! Boise State upsets Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime

By Phil Daily Idaho Press-Tribune GLENDALE, Ariz. — Boise State took out one of the most storied football programs of all-time in one of the best bowl games in recent history Monday night in the 36th annual Fiesta Bowl.

It is a game that will never be forgotten by Boise State fans.

The Broncos had their first-ever appearance in a Bowl Championship Series bowl game nearly clinched with 5 minutes to play, but a few twists and turns along the way made the team’s 43-42 overtime win against Oklahoma even more memorable.

“I’m just so happy for my guys,” Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky said. “To have that feeling that you pulled it off, your guys believed in you all the way to the end — it’s just unbelievable.”

Zabransky finished the game as the offensive MVP while throwing for 262 yards and three TDs. Facing improbable odds, the Broncos showed the college football world that they now belong with the big boys despite being tagged as a mid-major team from a no-name conference.

The win lifts the Broncos’ record to an undefeated 13-0 — their first season without a loss as a Division I-A team.

The Broncos entered the game ranked No. 9, and will likely finish the season for the first time in the top 10.

“We really feel like we belonged here all along,” Boise State head coach Chris Petersen said. “That’s why you play the GREG KRELLER/IPT game.”

For 58 minutes the Broncos were Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky holds up the trophy for Offensive MVP as FOX broadcaster Chris Rose interviews him on the stage following a 43-42 win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2007, in complete control. The team made at University of Phoenix Stadium. plays when it had to and stopped the 12 | FALL 2016

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No. 7-ranked Sooners (11-3 overall) on several cricical third downs.

The Broncos held All-American running back Adrian Peterson to only 77 yards on 20 carries. Boise State running back Ian Johnson finished the game with 100 yards on 24 carries.

With 1:26 to play OU found a way to tie the game as Quentin Chaney grabbed a 5-yard pass from Paul Thompson to even up the score 28-28.

Boise State got the ball back and on the very first play, quarterback Jared Zabransky threw his first and only interception of the game, a mistake that came at the worst possible time.

Oklahoma’s Marcus Walker took the pass 33 yards to the end zone to give the Sooners their first lead of the game at 35-28.

“I’m not going to lie, when Z threw that interception, I was like, ‘That’s a terrible way to wrap his career up,” offensive lineman Jeff Cavender said.

Zabransky ended the last two bowl games with an interception, but this game would not continue that trend.

The Broncos didn’t pack it in and facing a fourth-and-18 with less than 20 seconds to go, Zabransky stood tall and delivered a strike to Drisan James, who then pitched it to Jerard Rabb, who took it the rest of the way for the score. The hook-and-lateral play tied up the game with 7 seconds to play and allowed the Broncos to stay alive and have a chance to win in overtime.

“We call it ‘circus’ because that’s all it is,” Cavender said of the play. “I think we have run that play a million times in practice and it’s never worked.”

It sure worked when it mattered.

The Broncos gave up a quick score to the Sooners as Peterson ran the first play of overtime 25 yards to put OU up 42-35. Boise State faced yet another challenge when it got the ball and faced a critical forth down. This time Zabransky was used as a diversion and went in motion, leaving Vinny Perretta behind the center for the snap. Perretta took the ball and ran right, tossing it to Derek Schouman for a 5-yard TD. “Oklahoma wasn’t going to stop us tonight,” Perretta said. “It feels great.”

But the Broncos still had work to do as Petersen dug deep into his bag of tricks as he opted to go for the win instead of kicking the extra point and going to a second overtime.

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GREG KRELLER/IPT

Boise State defenders Marty Tadman (20), Colt Brooks (31) and Korey Hall (25) swarm Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson and keep him to a short gain during the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Boise State defeated Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime.

The Broncos ran an old-school trick play dubbed the “Statue of Liberty.”

Zabransky faked a pass, while Johnson took the ball as he held it behind his back. Johnson went to the end zone untouched for the win.

The sophomore threw the ball into the stands and the players rushed the field. “We liked the play we had for a two-point conversion,” Petersen said.

“It wasn’t really a difficult decision at that point.”

The Broncos got on the scoreboard early in the game as Zabraksy threw his first TD of the night to James. This time it was a key fake to Johnson that allowed the defender to bite, leaving James wide open for the 49-yard score.

The Broncos’ second TD of the first quarter came as they forced OU quarterback Paul Thompson to cough up the ball on their own 9. Mike T. Williams broke through the offensive front to not only register the sack, but he also stripped the ball and landed on it to get the Broncos’ first turnover of the night.

OU got on the scoreboard with a 14play drive with 26 seconds to play in the first quarter to cut the lead to 14-7.

The Sooners added a field goal by Garrett Hartley with 5:38 to play to close the gap to three points.

Boise State extended its lead to 11 points at the break as James got his second TD of the half. This time, his shifty moves got him there as he dodged several Sooners heading to the right front corner of the end zone.

Boise State’s biggest mistake of the night came after they forced OU to punt on fourth down. The Broncos had Marty Tadman back deep tor eturn it, but he opted to let it go by.

The ball bounced and hit Aiona Key in the leg and Walker recovered it. The Sooners only needed 10 yards to get a touchdown and on second and goal from the 7, Peterson hit the end zone untouched to get within 28-20.

“They are an excellent football team,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “I knew that all along.”

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2006 season recap GAME 1 — Aug. 31 Boise State 45, Sacramento State 0 at Bronco Stadium Sophomore running back Ian Johnson tied a school record with five rushing touchdowns, finishing with 240 yards on the ground in a monster game, as the Broncos dispatched their foes from the Pac-10 Conference. Johnson had entered the game with just one 100-yard rushing game previously in his career.

GAME 3 — Sept. 16 Boise State 17, Wyoming 10 at War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, Wyo. In a game which featured 991 total yards of offense and 75 points, Boise State survived a scare in its first Western Athletic Conference game of the season to remain perfect. Quarterback Jared Zabransky had three touchdown passes and 311 total yards of offense.

GAME 5 — Sept. 30 Boise State 36, Utah 3 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City Boise State ran away with the game by putting up 406 yards of total offense over the first three quarters, finishing with 489— as the Broncos reached the midway point of the season with their perfect record intact. Zabransky had 184 passing yards, 57 rushing yards and accounted for three touchdowns.

GAME 7 — Oct. 15 Boise State 40, New Mexico State 28 at Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, N.M. Boise State recovered from a 14-7 first quarter deficit against its in-state rivals and took its eighth straight win against the Vandals. Johnson had another four-touchdown performance for Boise State, including two in the final five minutes, helping Boise State pull away after leading 28-26 late in the game.

GAME 9 — Nov. 1 Boise State 45, Fresno State 21 at Bronco Stadium Anthony Montgomery kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired, as Boise State kept its BCS hopes alive after trailing the Spartans for much of the game.

Johnson finished with 149 yards on 29 carries, while Drisan James finished with 118 receiving yards. Zabransky completed 14-of-20 passes for 181 yards.

GAME 11 — Nov. 18 Boise State 49, Utah State 10 At Bronco Stadium Boise State locked up its fifth straight WAC title and wrapped up an expected invitation to the Fiesta Bowl, which became official just over a week later.

Zabransky had a season-high 299 yards on 20-of-27 passing with one touchdown. Johnston returned from injury and rushed for 147 yards and three TDs. 14 | FALL 2016

The Chris Petersen era gets underway with a strong start as the Broncos offense scores on four of its first five offensive possessions, as Boise State opens the season with a blowout win over the FCS Hornets. The Broncos defense held Sacramento State to 82 yards of total offense.

GAME 2 — Sept. 7 Boise State 42, Oregon State 14 at Bronco Stadium Boise State fends off a late comeback effort by the Cowboys in bad weather in Laramie to improve to 3-0 on the season. Boise State intercepted Wyoming quarterback Jacob Doss twice, proving to be the difference in a game where the Broncos offense converted just 2-of-13 third-down conversion attempts.

GAME 4 — Sept. 23 Boise State 41, Hawaii 34 at Bronco Stadium Boise State made a strong statement regarding its BCS chances, picking up a dominating road win against a Ute team which most Las Vegas oddsmakers had favored. Boise State’s defense held Utah to 178 total yards and intercepted four passes, each of which the offense converted into points.

GAME 6 — Oct. 7 Boise State 55, Louisiana Tech 14 at Bronco Stadium Boise State survived the passing attack of New Mexico State quarterback Chase Holbrook, who threw for 526 yards. But the Broncos countered that with 192 rushing yards and four touchdowns by Johnson, who finished the game just two yards shy of 1,000 yards on the season.

GAME 8 — Oct. 21 Boise State 42, Idaho 26 at Kibbie Dome, Moscow Zabransky was in can’t-miss form connecting on 19-of-25 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns, while Johnson added another 100-yard rushing performance with 136 yards and two touchdowns. Boise State’s defense gave up just seven points as the Bulldogs scored on a kickoff return and interception return.

GAME 10 — Nov. 11 Boise State 23, San Jose State 20 at Spartan Stadium, San Jose, Calif.

Zabransky led the senior day party, completing 20-of-23 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns, leading Boise State to an easy win in his final game on The Blue. Even without Johnson, who missed the game with an injury, Boise State still managed to put up 231 rushing yards against the Aggies in the win.

GAME 12 — Nov. 25 Boise State 38, Nevada 7 at Mackay Stadium, Reno, Nev. FIRST FIESTA

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Boise State trailed Oklahoma 35-28 with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter. It was fourth-and-18 from the 50-yard line.

What happened next was the beginning of one of the greatest comebacks and endings in college football history....

With four Oklahoma defenders collapsing on James, Rabb takes the pitch and streaks down the left sideline. He outruns the slow-to-react Sooner defense and dives into the end zone for a gametying touchdown with seven seconds left.

James makes the catch and takes two steps towards the middle of the field to draw in the Oklahoma defenders.

“It never worked in practice, ever.... You’re pretty much in shock when it happens.”

— Jared Zabransky

Before the Oklahoma defense can get to James, he laterals the ball to wide receiver Jerard Rabb, who was streaking across from the opposite side of the field.

“That’s the only play we could have called. We had to score points fast.

We had no time. There was nothing else to call, and it just worked. The guys executed it to a T.” — Chris Petersen 16 | FALL 2016

Quarterback Jared Zabransky drops back and throws about a 15-yard pass to wide receiver Drisan James, who was the only receiver on the left side of the field.

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fLAsHbAck chris petersen • 2006 boise state head coach The following article was written using quotes from an interview on ESPN Boise, and was approved by Petersen...

M

y first season as head coach was that season in 2006 and when I look all the way back at that time, I really did not want to be the head coach. In fact for a few days, I was going to go to Colorado with coach Hawk. But after sitting there for a couple days and contemplating it, I really just had no excitement about moving.

After talking to Gene Bleymaier and Hawk, it was either that, or have the opportunity to become the head coach. And I felt like I was trapped because I wasn’t that excited about leaving and if I didn’t, and then if I didn’t become the head coach, there was no guarantee I was staying in Boise depending on who they hired.

I was kind of like, “OK, I guess I really need to do this if I’m enjoying living in Boise, Idaho.” Becoming the head coach was kind of the afterthought. I said, “OK, lets see how this goes” because I just knew how different being a head coach was from being the coordinator. I really enjoyed being the coordinator and that’s what I wanted to do.

I wanted to watch tape and figure out how to score points. I knew it would be different being the head coach.

But obviously I inherited a great situation with really good players and some of the coaches stayed and we brought in some tremendous coaches, and it just all worked. I remember after we won the Fiesta Bowl, I had about 10 of my buddies texting me saying “Get out, get out now, it will never be that good again, you’ve done all you need to do.” I probably should have listened to them.

When I look back at that game and our team and how we prepared for that game, we thought about it in a lot of detail. How were we going to practice?

How were we going to talk to them the night before the game? The day of the

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game? The big thing was really trying not to get them too fired up. We knew they would have plenty of emotion, so we tried to relax them as much as we could as coaches. We tried to take the pressure off. We didn’t give them a fired up speech and those things. We just said to enjoy the game and have fun, and we went that direction because we knew we weren’t going to have to fire them up. This is what every kid wanted, and they had a chip on their shoulder, so our mindset was to just try and get them to relax and play our best ball.

For us to win the game I thought we were going to have to make something happen early. I think it was Mike T. Williams that sacked the quarterback and got that turnover early somewhere around the 10- to 15-yard line and we got some points. I just knew we had to have something happen to give our guys some belief, so that was big. I think the other thing was when Drisan James scored right before the half. Zabransky throws basically a little swing pass and he outruns everybody and makes a guy miss. I think those two things in my mind kind of said “Hey, we can do this.”

If you flash forward to later in the game, the moment that ‘Z’ threw the pick-6 that gave Oklahoma the lead with about a minute left, I was just so crushed for him. I remember thinking that I didn’t want his career to end on a pass like that. Luckily we got the ball back and were able to battle back.

I have to give tremendous credit to

Bryan Harsin for that game. He did such a good job calling the plays. But the trick plays were not hard calls, because we really had to do something in those situations to make something happen. We had that much respect for Oklahoma and we knew we were going to have to do something different.

We always practiced those trick plays and the kids loved them, but to me, those weren’t difficult plays to do. We knew we weren’t going to beat them by running them over.

We had to have some deception.

The Hook and Ladder was the only play we could have called in that situation.

We had to score points fast and had no time. There was really nothing else to call and it just worked. We executed it to a T. When we scored on the Hook and Ladder, I thought about going for two right there but I chickened out. I thought maybe we should just go for two, but there was too much time left and I said let’s just kick the extra point.

Oklahoma got the ball to start overtime and when Adrian Peterson took the first play 25 yards for a touchdown, right there in my mind I said we are for sure going for two if we score. They were just getting warmed up. Adrian Peterson was just starting to warm his legs up, because he hadn’t played for a while because he had a broken collar bone. There was no doubt we were going for two if we scored.

And then when we did score, we had Statue Left called and then Oklahoma

“When we scored on the Hook and Ladder, I thought about going for two right there but I chickened out. When Adrian Peterson took the first play 25 yards for a touchdown, right there in my mind I said we are for sure going for two if we score.”

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was hash specific. Our backup quarterbacks, Bush Hamdan and Taylor Tharpe, were all about it and itching for it all game. And it all worked. Again, I thought coach Harsin called an awesome game and the kids executed.

Another point that needs to be made is how well our defense and defenses had played certainly that year and over the years. The offense always gets the credit and certainly we scored a lot of points, but I don’t think you win like we won at Boise State without championship defenses. We talk about all the craziness on offense, but you don’t get things done without big time defensive players getting turnovers and scoring.

The defensive performance in that game is so overlooked. We scored on defense, we had five turnovers, and you don’t win without that. There’s no question we don’t win if we don’t get those things done. It all had to happen just right, but if you look back over the years, our defenses always played really well. The offense will get the headlines and sell tickets, but all those guys on defense, I have every bit as much respect for those kids and those coaches as I do anybody on offense.

We had a lot of really good players on that team that were just really, really solid kids and excellent football players and had been playing together for a while. We also some underclassman that were good too and went on to be NFL players too, but those seniors, that was such a good senior class and had played a lot and always played with a GREG KRELLER/IPT chip on their shoulder and were darn good at playing football. called timeout and we came over to the You knew he was going to do his job.

When I think about the impact that sideline and I started getting nervous You just had that confidence. game had, it probably took a few years again. I said, “Are we sure we are good And the guy the ball was going to, for me to realize it because everybody here?” I think it was Brent Pease who I’ve said this to this day. I’ve been was making such a big deal about it said, “this will work for sure,” and around a lot of tight ends, but I think but I felt like we had won so many when he said that, we rolled with it.

Derek Schouman is as good as anyclose games. Our guys had played I was on board 1,000 percent with body I’ve ever had as a tight end in really well for the games even before the calls on the trick plays. I don’t college football. He catches like a remember how they came down from receiver, he wasn’t very big, but he was the Fiesta Bowl, but we just had never done it against an opponent like Oklathe box, we probably discussed them one of the best, if not the best blocka little bit, but I was completely on ing tight end that we’ve had. He was so homa and on a stage like that. I felt like we had won some tough games that board. explosive and could make big plays. A season, we kicked a field goal to beat On the fourth-and-2 play that scored combination like that, with the game San Jose State, so it just felt like we had the touchdown to set up the two-point on the line, you want to get the ball to conversion, I had complete confidence your best players and we thought those pulled out another big game.

A few years later I realized the signifin Vinny Perretta. When you think two guys were two of our best players. icance of the whole thing and it sticks about him throwing the ball in that On the Statue Left play, we had with me even today. Even thought I am situation, first of all he’s one of the kids actually been trying to call that play at Washington now, I really appreciwe trusted as much as anybody. He’s most of the game. It was more of a red ate all the people in Boise and we’re not the quarterback, but he’s just a zone play, it wasn’t a two-point play playmaker. There couldn’t have been a for the most part, but we kept being on rooting for the Broncos over there as better guy to have the ball in his hands. the wrong side of the field because it always.

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flashback korey hall • linebacker

W

hen I was approached about doing this, I went back and looked up a couple YouTube videos from that game and it’s crazy to look back and see the last few minutes and the roller coasters that the game had with the changes in the lead and everything that happened in the end.

I think our coaches did a great job of preparing us for that game. Never did we go into that week in Arizona or any of those practices worried about the game. It was easy going, we did our thing at practice and by that point we all had a swagger about us. Even before the game in the locker room guys were messing around and enjoying themselves, but we came out ready to play and ready to lay it on the line.

That was kind of the mentality for that team, to go play every play like it was our last and that gave us an advantage, especially early in the game when we jumped out in front.

People always talk about Oklahoma being such huge favorites and us being such huge underdogs in that game, but I don’t think anybody ever told the players that. That’s now how we prepared or felt going in. We had

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like Oklahoma. They just have so much depth and guys that can play only on special teams, but we all played special teams and late in the game, when it gets extended like that, I had a feeling if we went to another overtime that our defense just didn’t have much left.

Obviously looking back it’s easy to say it was an awesome call to go with the Statue of Liberty, but it was the right call at the time.

Earlier in the game I tipped a pass that Marty Tadman took back for a touchdown and everything happened so fast, but I remember just barely catching the edge of the ball with my finger and I fell face-first into the ground. I looked up and saw Marty had grabbed it and was wide open running GREG KRELLER/IPT up the sidelines and took it in for a score. That’s obviously a great memory a confidence about us that season for me from that game. and we didn’t care who we played. We It’s crazy how fast 10 years can go by. planned on winning every game. It It doesn’t seem like 10 years ago at all. kind of makes me upset when people One of the things I’ll always remember talk about us being such big underdogs from that game is something I also to be honest, because that takes away remember from the Super Bowl, and from what we did. that’s after the game when I sat down When I think about the tackles and on the field and there was so much goplays I made in the game, the only ing on everywhere but just to sit down one that sticks out and comes back to and take it all in for five minutes and haunt me is in overtime when I missed reflect on how you got there and what a tackle on Adrian Peterson and he it means to be where you are at. That’s took it in for a touchdown. I remember probably the thing I will always enjoy thinking I had just lost us the game. the most.

We were about out of gas at that Every conversation I get into, somepoint. Our whole starting linebacker body asks where you played college crew, we played every play of special ball and I say Boise State. The first teams. I had kind of budgeted myself for four quarters, and then you get into thing anybody asks is ‘were you in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma with overtime and you are trying to find more gas in the tank to get you through the Statue of Liberty?’ I’ve probably answered that question 100 times, but it. that’s fine. I’m cool with it. People still Our whole defense was pretty worn talk about that game and it’s pretty out by that point, which is why I thought it was a brilliant call by Coach cool to be part of that.

WHERE AM I NOW: I live in Boise Pete to go for the two-point conversion after we scored. I think he was starting and work for ESI Construction. It’s to sense that the defense was worn out. been a great experience for me and I’m learning a lot about the construction That’s one of the biggest differences field and really enjoying it. from a mid-major like us and a school FALL 2016 | 21

flashback Vinny perretta • wide receiVer

I

get goosebumps thinking back to that day. When they announced that we were going to be playing Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, we knew that we were going up against a giant. I mean Oklahoma, you saw them all the time on TV in those big time games and let alone they had Adrian Peterson. So we definitely knew what we were getting ourselves into.

But credit to Coach Petersen and our coaching staff. They had us dialed in for the whole bowl preparation leading up to the big game. We were so focused and mentally/physically prepared. You could truly sense in our team meetings just how much we wanted to win this game. We didn’t just want to show up.

We wanted to win. By the time Jan. 1 rolled around, the Broncos were ready to roll.

When we went out for pregame warmups, I looked across the other side of the field and Oklahoma was out there warming up. I remember thinking to myself, ‘oh man, these guys are physical specimens.’ We knew we were going to have our hands full, but we were confident, came out of the gates hot and jumped on them early.

When they had the interception for a TD, otherwise known as a pick-six, at the end of the game, I thought to myself, ‘we were winning the game the whole time and this is how we are going to lose? You got to be kidding me.’ But there was still time on the clock, and the football gods decided to shine down on us and the rest is history.

Obviously, in that game, I am known for my touchdown pass in overtime on 4th-and-2. I think I was pretty oblivious to what was happening because I was so stunned

GREG KRELLER/IPT

that they actually called my number. I kind of blacked out for a minute. Out of that offensive personal package group there was only one play. They called the group in and I was running out there thinking to myself, ‘I wonder what play we are going to run’ and then it hit me. There was only one play possible.

I thought, ‘well this is going to be really good or really bad. I could be the scapegoat, so I better make it happen.’ The play occurred and it happened so fast. I didn’t really get to see ‘Schu’ catch the ball.

I just threw a prayer up there and he came down with it. I knew what had happened when I hear our fans celebrating and I couldn’t believe what just had happened.

“I was so stunned that they actually called my number.

I kind of blacked out for a minute. ... I thought ‘this could be really good or really bad.’”

22 | FALL 2016

Credit to our coaches, it ended up being the perfect play call. Yes risky, but our coaches had done their homework. The game prior we played Nevada to finish the season undefeated which eventually got us into the Fiesta Bowl. In that game, we ran a similar play out of the same formation and personal group, but it was a designed run. The play worked and I ran it in for a touchdown. We felt like Oklahoma, being the great program that they are, and Coach Bobby Stoops probably did their homework so when they saw that formation, they thought they knew what was coming. But turns out our coaches did their homework too, and knew they would probably be expecting the run. So they decided to turn the play into selling that it was a run play, and turning it into a pass play.

I remember Coach Harsin, our offensive coordinator at the time, telling me that if the pass wasn’t open, then just find a way to get the two yards for the first down. ‘Schu’ had done a great job pretending like he was blocking. I FIRST FIESTA

tucked the ball once I got the snap and sold the run. I saw ‘Schu’ release from his “block” and I pulled up and threw the ball to where I was expecting him to be, in the corner of the end zone.

I thought ‘there you go Schu, now go and make it happen.’ And thankfully he did.

When I think back to the play and the opportunity to run it, it means the world to me. The opportunity for an underdog like myself and my teammates, and being to go out there and show the world that a little walk-on wide receiver can have a chance on the national stage is something that I take pride in. It was very special to go out there and prove to the people that I could do it.

Looking back at it now, it was crazy that the coaches put that much trust in me to throw the ball. Coach Harsin, he drew up the play and said ‘Vinny, I trust you, and if we get to this point in the game, and we have to call this play, I know you will find a way to complete the pass or try to scramble for a few yards to get the first down.’ I was humbled that they had that much trust and belief in me to make the pass.

I’m sure the Oklahoma defense was licking their chops when they saw me out there. It’s something I will never forget and will always hold close to my heart. To help contribute to the win, still to this day, I’m very thrilled. I was and still am so happy for my teammates, the coaches, myself and the city of Boise.

The whole game is something that my teammates and myself will always be able to have and is something that nobody can take from us. The impact it had on BSU and the city of Boise, and the opportunity to give back to the community for their efforts in cheering us on, it’s something I’m very proud of will will cherish forever.

It has been ten fast years since Boise State shocked the world. I can’t wait to see everyone at the 10 year reunion of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. That game is something that all the guys on the team will always be able to share and have that one common bond in. Life can take people down so many different paths. Today, we all live different lives on the west coast, east coast, and everybody has moved on. But when we all get back together, that’s something FIRST FIESTA

we will always have in common and be able to look back and reminisce about that crazy game. I’m definitely looking forward to the reunion and seeing everybody and having a good time.

WHERE AM I NOW: I’m still living in Boise, Idaho, married, with a son who is a year a half old. My wife Jessica Perretta played soccer at Boise State. We met in the dorms and dated throughout college. We got married soon after we graduated and had our son Leo Perretta, who is hopefully a Bronco in the making. I work for a company called Stryker Orthopaedics. We sell orthopaedic implants, total hip and total knee replacement implants in particular. That being said, I am very thankful for everything that BSU has done for me. I am thankful that I got to play college football at a high level, met my

“I was humbled that they had so much trust and belief in me to make the pass. It’s something I will never forget and will always hold close to my heart. ” wife and started a family here in Boise, and I am thankful that a degree from Boise State has allowed me to work for a fortune 500 company. Go Broncos!

FALL 2016 | 23

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FALL 2016 | 25

flashback Thom Brennaman • FoX play-By-play BroadcasTer

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obody gave Boise State a chance in that game. I think that’s fair to say. I remember it like it was yesterday. The group that announced that game, myself, Charles Davis and Barry Alvarez and our entire crew, we were also going to announce the BCS National Championship between Ohio State and Florida seven days later. So what we did, rather than send all seven or eight guys on our production team as we normally would to say Boise and Oklahoma, we had four teams to cover so we split up the groups. Two guys went to Ohio State, two to Florida, two to Oklahoma and two to Boise. I was one of the guys that got to go to Boise.

I had never been to Boise so I was very excited because I had seen the blue field on television and all that stuff. We were there and after about an hour of talking to some of the players and coach Petersen, I remember looking over at our producer that was with me, Mike Burks and said I don’t know if anybody else is giving Boise State a chance, but they think they can win.

You looked at the matchups along the offensive and defensive lines and one of the kids that came in for Boise State, I can’t remember if he was an offensive or defensive lineman, but I remember that he only weighed about 230 pounds, and the guy he was going to line up against in that game was a typical big school, 300-pound lineman, and I said I’m not smart enough to figure out whether or not the little man can win in that kind of a matchup over four quarters of the game, but I do know one thing — Boise State believes it can win the game. I think both of us walked away and got on the plane the next day saying to ourselves, you know what? They think they have a chance.

And as we know, making yourself believe you have a chance sometimes is more than half the battle.

As for the game itself, a lot of people in Boise certainly remember and 26 | FALL 2016

people in Oklahoma probably remember too, but Boise scores in the third quarter on an interception if I remember right, and all of a sudden they are up 28-10! Now as I am sitting there doing the game, I am thinking ‘this has a chance to be a huge upset.’ Boise State is in total, total command of the game. From that standpoint there wasn’t necessarily anything spectacular about it being a great game — it was just a game that Boise State was the better team for three quarters of the game.

Then all of a sudden, Oklahoma gets a touchdown with a handful of minutes left in the third quarter, starts a 25-0 run and then when Jared Zabransky throws the interception with 1:02 to go and Marcus Walker of Oklahoma returns it for the touchdown, you’re thinking, ‘man, what a great effort by Boise State.’ But I’ll be the first to admit, I’m sitting there with 1:02 left thinking there’s no way they are going down the field and scoring. They had been shut out in the fourth quarter, and there was just no way they were going down the field on Oklahoma’s defense with 1:02. But starting with that interception and all the way to the conclusion of the game is when it became the game that all of us remember.

As I said I was doing the game with Charles Davis, and he knows as much about college football as anyone I’ve ever been around in my entire life. I remember looking over at him and said ‘can you believe this game?’ I mean the way the final 1:25 went, where the teams contribute for 22 points

and of course the hook and latter and everybody is going to remember that because you just couldn’t believe it happened and the way that it happened. Sometimes every blue moon there’s two or three laterals — and I remember reading afterwards that actually the design of the play had two more potential laterals — but one flip and then he’s gone, touchdown, and you’re just shocked. We’re sitting there and I said ‘have you ever seen anything like this?’ and I asked him in the large scheme of things where this would rank in terms of all-time upsets and he said well in a bowl game, this has to be right there.

The one moment that stands out to me more than any other was when they got into overtime and obviously Oklahoma had scored on the touchdown run from Adrian Petersen that turned out to be his final touchdown run in college, but all of a sudden on the fourth-and-2 play when Vinny Peretta is in the backfield, this is the biggest play arguably in the history of Boise State football and it might turn out to be the biggest one they ever have, who knows — unless they play for a national championship one day and maybe they will — and they have a wide receiver throw a pass on the biggest play of the year.

I don’t care if they had run that play three times, nine times, 15 times.

And think about what everybody is saying. I mean in all fairness I know sometimes I know I’m guilty of second guessing coaches and we all are, ‘why would you pass here? Why would you run here?’ But can you imagine somebody asking Chris Petersen, how many times would he have been asked the question if they let the receiver Peretta throw that pass and say the guy is wide open and he over throws him by five

“That’s as much fun as I’ve ever had announcing a game in my life. ”

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feet, and everybody is saying ‘well why is that guy throwing the pass anyway?’

I remember when he threw it and the receiver caught it and the crowd is going crazy, I remember taking off my headset and letting the crowd go out over the television, and I pushed my cut-off microphone button in front of me and I looked over at Barry Alvarez and he took his off too and I said ‘let me ask you a question’, and this is while everybody is going crazy, I said ‘what would have happened if you were the head coach at Wisconsin and your offensive coordinator on fourthand-2 would have called that play?’ He looks at me and says, ‘that SOB would have been fired on the spot.’ And I’ll never forget those words as long as I live. I belly laughed, and then I had to try and get it back together because now you’ve got the decision.

I think everybody thought they were going to kick it and go to another FIRST FIESTA

ing. Johnson runs into the end zone, the place is going crazy, and the next thing I know, I throw it down to Chris Myers and Ian Johnson is proposing to his girlfriend.

It was their night. I think God was on Boise State’s side that night if he was picking a winner because that was just incredible.

Because of my connection with Boise State from that game, I still follow them. I look to see how they do every single week. If they are playing on a Thursday night or a Saturday night as we’re getting ready for our NFL game on the road on Sunday and they are on late Saturday night, I will always check out to see how they are doing.

Coach Petersen and his entire staff were just unbelievable. The athletic director, Gene Bleymaier — what a guy. He was such a pleasant guy and he couldn’t have been more gracious when we came on the trip to Boise and then when we saw them again at practice in Arizona. Coach Petersen’s son had been through everything he had been through, so they were just a very easy team to root for and I still root for them even now an always love checking out that blue field on the tune.

No matter where I’ve gone in my whole life and clearly I’m not part of GREG KRELLER/IPT it any way shape or form compared to the players that night, the coaches, overtime, and now here comes the play their families and everybody else, but I will say that there is no other that will forever be known in history, moment that people have asked me those three plays really in the history of college football. But on the Statue of about through the years more than that game. And obviously a lot of the Liberty, go back and watch that play. I younger people now, it’s been a long had never watched that play one time time. It was 10 years ago. There are and had never watched that game a lot of young people maybe 15, 16, until I went back and watched the last 17, 18 years old that don’t remem1:25 of regulation and overtime today before doing this. It was the first time I ber anything about it, but I think for had ever seen it since the night it hap- anybody that was 20 or older, I think that’s a game that if they are a football pened, and I mean really gone back fan, they are going to remember that and watched it because we’ve all see game forever. And for those that were highlights and stuff, but that handoff there and part of the game, the fans,

by Zabransky, having not gone back coaches, players, those of us working and watched it, I just assumed when it, it was just an incredible night. he put his arm back, often times in I was honored and blessed to be the Statue of Liberty play you’ll have there that night. It was an extraordithe ball in your right hand behind narily unbelievable night. I was so foryour ear, but he never has the ball in tunate and so grateful and so blessed his right hand, and turns around and to be at that game because that’s as hands it off left handed. I mean what much fun as I’ve ever had announcing an unbelievable play, and Oklahoma had no chance. They didn’t see it com- a game in my life.

FALL 2016 | 27

flashback orlando scandrick • defensive back

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he win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl is one of the best overall accomplishments I’ve ever had playing organized sports. We were heavy underdogs and nobody gave us a chance, and when Ian ran that ball in on the Statue of Liberty and we won the game, that’s a memory I will remember forever.

I remember we had a nice lead at the half and were really playing well and then we got a little sloppy. Looking at overtime, I just remember on the first play we didn’t get lined up properly and only had 10 guys on the field at first and they get a touchdown on the first play.

After we came back and scored, coach Pete walked over and asked how we were feeling and to be able to be honest with coach and to tell him ‘we don’t really have anything left coach’ and he decided to be aggressive and go for two and it turned out great.

I do think coach Pete probably was going to go for it anyway because he’s a very intelligent coach and when you have opportunities, you have to seize them. That was one of the things we did at Boise State, we were always aggressive and always took advantage of our opportunities.

When we had that nice lead and Oklahoma started to come back, I don’t think it was their speed or physicality that started to wear on us. I just think we made some very, very uncharacteristic mistakes. We forced a punt and then it hits us and they get the ball and have a short field and we give up points, and then we give up seven points on the pick-six without our defense even being on the field. When it’s two good teams playing like that, the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win and ultimately we were able to do that.

When Oklahoma scored with about a minute left to take the lead, it happened so fast that I didn’t have a chance to think the game was over.

28 | FALL 2016

GREG KRELLER/IPT

They had the interception and took it back for a score, but a few plays later, we ended up coming down and scoring.

A big thing in that game was that we came in believing we could win the game. We were prepared and showed up in Arizona and came out sharp and crisp and executed and we got that big lead which helped a lot in that game.

It’s a game I’ll never forget, and I

just appreciate that team, I appreciate those coaches and I appreciate that University. It really gave me the opportunity to get on the stage that I am today in the NFL and I’ll never, ever, ever forget those moments and the times that I had at Boise State. I’ll never forget the hard, long summers, and the cold winters that we had on the Blue, which ultimately helped us win that game.

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After Adrian Peterson scored for Oklahoma on the first play of OT, Boise State took possession and faced fourth-and-2 from the 3-yard line.

This play followed to pull the Broncos within one at 42-41...

“We actually had a run play called and I changed the call right before we went on the field.

I called it and said ‘is everybody good?’ and I got crickets on the headset. Nobody said ‘great call.’

It was quiet. As the guys ran out there, I remember coach Pete getting on the mic and saying ‘you think this is going to work?’

That’s when I got sweaty. The sweat started pouring and I said ‘oh man, I hope it does.’”

— Bryan Harsin

Perretta pulls up and lofts a pass to Schouman, who catches the ball in the end zone and falls to the ground for the touchdown.

Quarterback Jared Zabransky motions out to the left, leaving wide receiver Vinny Perretta alone in the backfield.

“I thought, ‘Well, this is going to be really good or really bad.’ ... I just threw a prayer up there and he came down with it. I knew what had happened when I heard our fans celebrating.”

— Vinny Perretta FIRST FIESTA

Tight end Derek Schouman starts the play as a blocker to sell the run, but slips past the defense and moves toward the end zone.

Perretta takes the snap and begins running to the right, tucking the ball to make it look he is about to run for the first down.

FALL 2016 | 31

flashback ian johnson • running back

T

he first thing I think about when I think about the 2007 Fiesta Bowl is how long it’s been. Ten years. That’s a third of my life that’s gone by since that happened. It’s crazy, and crazy to see and feel how much it still matters to people. I also think about how far the program has come since then. All the things that happened, with two more Fiesta Bowl victories, countless guys going into the NFL, buildings popping out of everywhere. The catalyst was the first Fiesta Bowl, and it’s had a lasting impact not just emotionally but structurally to the university and the state of Idaho.

There’s definitely a sense of pride knowing what you accomplished. We set out brick by brick, and that was the old saying we had, I remember putting physical bricks together on what we wanted to accomplish. We were told from day one that what we did on the field would have an impact on those people in the stands, and to see how it affected the community, it was something to be proud of. And it’s not ‘I am proud I did this.’ It’s ‘I’m proud that we did this’ because it literally took every single person on that team, from the kickers to some guy that had one tackle. Everybody mattered that season.

A guy like Brett Denton, who came in the week I had my collapsed lung and ran all over Utah State. He was one of many. You can see anybody from that team and you can just smile together, because everybody had an impact.

The thing that has surprised me is how long the game has remained cool for. I see kids that are seven years old and they say ‘Ian Johnson! Fiesta Bowl!’ and I’m like ‘you weren’t even born yet.’ People always want to talk about it and I love it. It’s a very special privilege that people still care, and I embrace it. In my adult life, I don’t know what it’s like to walk around and not have people saying ‘Ian!’ But I’m totally fine with it. I’m honored.

That Fiesta Bowl win started months 32 | FALL 2016

AP

Boise State running back Ian Johnson prepares to grab the ball from behind quarterback Jared Zabransky’s back on the famed Statue of Liberty playn in overtime to win the 2007 Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma. earlier for us. That summer before the season, we had 100 percent attendance for non-mandatory practices. For guys like myself, we don’t do anything in a lot of those because it’s glorified 7-on-7 and the quarterbacks like to throw the deep ball, but we all showed up anyway to be part of the team. We also had a lot of team bonding exercises that we did.

We won that game 4-5 years before hand to be honest. The coaches said ‘we’re going to recruit a special type of person, and only that type of person.’

We didn’t have a bunch of flashy guys that wanted accolades or wanted the ball or would turn on you when things didn’t go their way. We had something special. Every game we played was built on that. You look at the Oregon State game where we were down 21-0 but came back in amazing fashion and never batted an eye. We went into San Jose and were in a dog fight with San Jose State, I had two broken ribs

and a collapsed lung, and guys would rally around stuff like that. Those were the moments that set us up for the Fiesta Bowl. We were already battle tested and programmed to not bat an eye. You get 22 guys doing their job throughout the game, and you can do something special.

You can have those moments where you can look at someone and say ‘Well Z just lost us the game, way to go bro.

At least it’s not on me.’ But Nobody did that. We got to the sideline and said we have 1:14 left and we’ve scored in less than that plenty of times. Let’s go score. Guys weren’t hanging their heads or blaming Z. No one thought we couldn’t win. It was always something we believed we could do. Nobody said ‘I’m going to win this.’ It was a team effort, and ‘we’re going to go win this.’

When they took me out and put Vinny Perretta in at running back on the last play of the game potentially, FIRST FIESTA

I said ‘go for it.’ I trusted the scheme and the team. I said ‘I hope he gives me another chance.’ I trusted Vinny.

It wasn’t ‘oh man, we’re in trouble.’ I trusted Vinny to do his job. You knew Vinny was going to deliver. Did I want to be out there on the 4th and 2? You better believe I wanted to be out there, but we were taught to leave the ego at the door. It’s all about getting that W. We were part of a team, and I was one of the fortunate ones to get a lot of the praise that season. When they had the Heisman Trophy ballots, it didn’t say Ian Johnson and his five linemen and his receivers blocking down the field. It said ‘Ian Johnson.’ So I had my time in the sun. I was just praying Vinny gives me an opportunity to get back on the field. I didn’t know we’d go for two, but I knew Vinny could do it. I never questioned not being out there.

I never thought that was going to be the last play of the game, and I was right. After Vinny passed it to Schouman for the touchdown, I remember hearing ‘we’re going for two.’ We had the massive huddle on the sideline and I remember looking around the huddle and seeing guys like Jadon Daily and Legedu Naanee, they were shaking their heads like ‘Yeah, let’s do this.’ Nobody said anything except one thing by Jadon. He said ‘let’s party.’

That was kind of our thing all season, ‘party in the end zone.’ We’d say ‘let’s score and party in the end zone.’ And I have goosebumps right now thinking about it. It was just ‘Let’s party.’ And I remember coach Pete saying ‘OK guys, the play is going to be Statue Left.’

We had worked the play before and we ran it against Idaho. It was always ‘guys on the right, run a bubble screen, Zabransky and Ian work out the footwork and your fake, offensive line, do your thing.’ We never sat down as a group and said ‘make sure we sell this’, but the acting job that was put on on that play was to a level we had never done it before. I mean the bubble screen looked so real. I remember when I got the ball, the only thing I thought or said was ‘don’t trip.’ If I had tripped in the open field, that would have been the worst way ever to end the game. If you could read my lips, I’m literally telling myself ‘don’t trip, don’t trip’ as I’m running into the end zone.

There was a mountain of Clady and FIRST FIESTA

Schouman and whoever else crushing guys and I never once thought the play wasn’t going to work.

The only way it wasn’t going to work was if I tripped, and thankfully I didn’t.

As soon as we lined up, it was one of those things where when Jadon said ‘let’s party,’ it was almost ‘OK, what are we going to do in the end zone after this play.’ That’s how confident we were, not just in that play, but in our team.

We are going to win this game. And we did.

Obviously the proposal AP happened next. And how Boise State running back Ian Johnson (right) proposes to his girlfriend that came about was Chrissy on live TV after the Broncos won the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. earlier in the week, when we had a team event to go you propose’, she kind of backed up for watch the Insight Bowl. I had all my a second and I said ‘this is on live TV. buddies there, and a few team liaisons, You better say yes.’ And obviously she and I told them that when the game did and it worked out pretty cool. was over, I was going to take my girlI look back at it and it’s just been a friend Chrissy back to see my family in huge blessing for me and my family.

California and go to Laguna Beach and It’s the 10-year anniversity of the game, pretend like I was reaching for somebut it’s also the 10-year anniversary of thing in the water and propose to her. the proposal. It’s also the first time my Everybody was like ‘that’s corny and daughter gets to see the game. I made lame.’ One of the team liaisons said a promise to myself that I wouldn’t ‘you know what you should do? You watch the game film or read any of my should get the game-winning touchclippings until I had a little one in my down, get game MVP and do it live on house to show and say ‘your daddy national TV.’ We all laughed about it was cool at one point.’ My daughter and joked but that was the last thought Johannah is old enough finally. She’s about it. four years old. I showed her a little bit Then I score and we’re celebrating of the game and said do you know who and Chris Myers from FOX comes up that is? She said ‘that’s you daddy.’ Just to me and says ‘we’re going national being able to share it with not only my in a few seconds.’ My girlfriend shows Boise State family, but my daughter up near me, and right away it hit me. and wife, that’s where this becomes That conversation with the liaison just something truly special for me. The popped into my head. She went to hug 10-year anniversary, a perfect mark for somebody and I told Chris Myers real everything. You couldn’t have drawn quick, ‘when this is done, I’m going to up a better story. It’s a perfect story, propose to my girlfriend.’ He was like and I’m just blessed to have been on ‘Yeah, OK kid’ which explains why he that team and in that game. later said ‘I’ll let you propose to your WHERE AM I NOW: My wife Chrissy girlfriend’ and then was like ‘Oh, he’s and I have a four-year-old daughter actually going to do this’ when I got Johannah and we still proudly live here down on one knee. in Boise. We just celebrated our ninth I remember there was a guy in a 41 wedding anniversary on July 28. I have jersey right behind me and he was all worked at State Farm the past four obnoxious as get out and I was trying years, but opened up my own State Farm office about two years ago. I also to entertain my thoughts and answer host a sports talk radio show weekdays his questions while knowing I am about to propose. When he said ‘I’ll let from 7-10 a.m. on KTIK radio.

FALL 2016 | 33

Fan memories

W

e were right there above the corner of the end zone when Ian ran in the famous statue left. We were jumping up and down and hugging everyone. If I accidently grabbed an Oklahoma fan, please accept my apology. Incredible game we’ll never forget! These kids taught everyone if you prepare and believe anything’s possible.

— John and Sherry Burke

M

y husband Warren and I attended the 2007 Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix.

We had seats in the “nosebleed” section of the Phoenix Stadium. As the game wound down, and it wasn’t looking promising for the Broncos, we almost decided to leave, as many were leaving around us.

We decided to stay. What an exciting finish! We were all strangers, hugging and high fiving each other! The 30-minute bus ride back to the hotel after midnight, was memorable as we all couldn’t believe what we had just seen! The revelry continued at the hotel, no one slept much that night!

I

was at the game and the two things I remember are: 1) I remember a tackle and tight-end split out wide right with a receiver lined up behind. Oklahoma called timeout and we changed the play to a play action and Zabransky hit James for about a fifty yard TD. 2) On the punt that hit Keyes in the ankle, it seemed to me that Oklahoma had given up. Instead of going for it on forth and fairly from about the fifty they punted recovered it and the rest is history. When we got to our hotel room my mother-in-law had left a message and said sorry that we had lost.

was at the game, 12 rows up from the end zone that Ian Johnson ran Statue Left into. On the 4th down, I put my face in my hands and didn’t even see the lateral!! My brothers and everyone started screaming and that’s when I looked up and saw the TD. After the 2 point conversion in OT to win it, I ran down to the front row and greeted players. Ian Johnson was saying hi to us and then the reporters came over.

If you watch the video of the proposal, I’m the kid in the background making a fool of myself in the Johnson jersey. The Fox guy even told me to back off when the camera zoomed in on Ian. Anyway, later that next summer, I saw Ian Johnson at Roaring Springs and told him I was that annoying guy during his proposal and apologized. He said it “was all cool man” and gave me a high-five. Every year, that game is talked about and that footage is shown. Glad I etched my face into BSU history (even though I was being an idiot). Go Broncos!

— Mark Carringer

— Paul Blaisdell

— Dana Miller

I I

was in on my way home to Wisconsin from Nashville listening to it on multiple AM radio stations freaking out.

I proposed to Aubrey Frost, my wife of nine years, that night. We were celebrating our Christmas together really late.

I put the ring in a $.25 toy ring case in a giant box with a toy car. I later saw the video of Ian Johnson proposing as well.

Makes me wonder how many more did it?

— Matt Frost

34 | FALL 2016

I

remember when Zabransky threw the interception near the end of the game, my husband grabbed me and we left. My husband Ron was so mad that he grabbed me and we actually left the stadium. We were walking to the car and heard a lot of screaming, so we turned on the TV that we had in the car and watched the end of the game in the car.

In this picture I am with the ‘VooDoo Daddy’. He was one of many, including some Oklahoma fans, that wanted to get a picture with me that day.

— Helen Caudle FIRST FIESTA

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FALL 2016 | 35

flashback

JARED ZABRANSKY • QUARTERBACK

H

as it been 10 years already? It sure doesn’t seem like it. It’s probably been eight or nine years since I’ve watched the game from start to finish, but I’ve seen clips here and there. It’s always a hot topic when I meet somebody that’s a college football fan, but it’s exciting and it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up even today thinking about that game I think it will be like that forever.

I think what we did was pretty miraculous. If you look at Boise State’s history and where they started and how quickly we became a predominant team that people discussed and talked about as a mid-major or a darling

36 | FALL 2016

and you go into that game, not many people outside of the state of Idaho gave us a chance to win it. But we had about 100 guys in that locker room that truly believed. The emotions that come back, it kind of chokes me up right now because it’s been 10 years, but you still remember that locker room and the guys inside it.

We just kept the focus that season on a game-by-game mentality. In football, if you take any perspective outside of the next game, you won’t have the success you want. There are too many factors that go into the preparation each week that you can’t look ahead or think about anything other than the next game, and I think we kept that mental-

GREG KRELLER/IPT

ity. Looking back on it though, we had a pretty miraculous run.

We had some games that season that could have easily gone the other direction, which would have kept us from even being in the Fiesta Bowl. The San Jose State game, Ian is playing with a punctured rib and I had a 102 degree fever and the Chicken Pox. There were just so many things going against us that we had to overcome, and we had so many guys that battled throughout the season, whether it was an injury or an illness or whatever. It took everybody buying in for a full year and that team truly did.

When you look back at that game, the emotional swings were just nuts, FIRST FIESTA

but if you allow them to take over your mental capacity during a game, you’ve already lost. We did a remarkable job preparing for that game and staying within ourselves and a lot of that was what I had to go through. I threw the interception and I thought about it for a second and said why the heck did that happen, but then you have to move on and put it to the side. We had 1:06 left or whatever it was there at the end, and we had to move the ball 80 yards down the field, so you have to be pretty focused to be able to construct a drive that could put us in position to win the game.

Obviously everybody talks about the Hook and Ladder play from that game that scored the tying touchdown, but the crazy thing is that play never worked in practice. Never. We ran it so many times on Friday’s each week and the name was fitting. The play was called ‘Circus’ and it never worked and it turned into a circus with guys throwing the ball around, but you just cross your fingers and I remember looking at the huddle. Nobody was like a dear in headlights or mystified when the play call came in. Everybody was focused on their assignment and what they had to do and where they had to line up. That focus was just there all night, and it was really just another play. I know it wasn’t just another play, but that’s kind of what let us pull it off.

We thought about the play at hand, and nothing else. But looking back at it now, it’s kind like ‘Holy Crap, how did that happen?’

On the 4th-and-2 play where Vinny threw the touchdown pass, I didn’t agree with the play call. We were talking about it on the sideline and that was one of the only times during the year that Coach Pete and I talked back and forth in disagreement on the field.

I said let’s throw the ball, let me throw the ball, and he said no, we’re going to run this play.

I remember running out to the left and if you watch the play, I kind of start leaning towards the line of scrimmage while I was still in motion and I think it was too tight of a spot to call anything, but a referee could have easily called a penalty there. I’m so grateful that he didn’t obviously, but I’m not a receiver and I didn’t go in motion many times, so I was pretty fortunate that it worked FIRST FIESTA

GREG KRELLER/IPT

out. We had a lot of faith in Vinny and he had some success throwing the ball before that, but that was definitely one of the plays that I was kind of in disagreement over, but I told coach Pete after that I would never doubt him again.

When I just think back to that game and the impact it has had on Boise State history and college football history, it’s just unbelievable. It’s really humbling. It really is. It kind of floors you to think about the impact that we were able to have and the legacy that we were able to leave. We weren’t the firestarters. We had really good teams previously at Boise State, whether it be the teams that won national championships or the 2001 team that went down and beat Fresno State. We just felt it was our duty to carry on that torch and keep it going, and we were put into a pretty unique situation with

that game and it’s just humbling and I’m very honored to be part of it.

WHERE AM I NOW: Over the past nine years I’ve moved 11 times. Most of that was for football, but now I am working in the oil industry. I run a global sales team for a company and we build drilling rigs for the water markets, mineral exploration market and the oil and gas market. I travel a lot. I traveled about 160,000 miles last year flying all over the place, but I enjoy it.

If you remember the Chilean miners that got trapped in the earthquake, there were three holes that were drilled that ultimately rescued them and the rigs that were brought in for the holes were built by my company. I get to see the world and drive another team and quarterback it. It’s not football, but I still get to be the quarterback and I enjoy it.

FALL 2016 | 37

2006 ROSTER No. 52 2 13 15 8 27 56 61 53 87 86 67 24 40 31 57 54 64 9 79 7 69 35 51 74 94 92 26 65 21 85 44 75 76 25 3 83 82 33 28 49 45 77 11 41 38 23 71 84 34 59

Name Derrell Acrey Gerald Alexander Mike Altieri Bryan Anderson Seth Anderson Jeremy Avery Josh Bean Jeff Biederman Sean Bingham Tanyon Bissell Sherm Blaser Joe Bozikovich Tim Brady Richie Brockel Colt Brooks Bryon Brotzman Kyle Brotzman Andrew Browning Jeff Cavender Pete Cavender Jeremy Childs Ryan Clady Mike Coughlin Jadon Daily Brett Denton Dallas Dobbs Mike Dominguez Phillip Edwards Peter Elliott Dennis Ellis Ia Falo Cameron Filkins Toshi Franklin Tommy Gallarda Kyle Gingg Dan Gore John Gott Korey Hall Bush Hamdan Nick Harris Julian Hawkins Jon Helmandollar Shane Henry Jarvis Hodge Cade Hulbert Jared Hunter James Hurlburt Jovan Hutchinson Ben Iannacchione Drisan James Ian Johnson Jeron Johnson Quinton Jones Ryan Keating Aiona Key Brad Lau Will Lawrence

38 | FALL 2016

Pos. MLB S SLB LB S RB MLB C DE WR TE DT SLB TE SLB P K DT OG OG WR OT QB C RB LB DE DT TE DT S OG WR TE WLB DT OG MLB QB WR TE RB DB RB CB TE LB WR OT WR RB S CB OG WR FB DT

YR FR SR* JR* SO* FR* FR JR* JR* SO* SO* SR SO* SO* FR* SR* FR FR SR* JR* JR* FR* SO* FR SR SR SO* SR* SO* JR SR* JR* FR* SO* FR SO* JR* SO* SR* SO* SO* SO* SO* FR FR FR SR* SO SR* SO* SR* SO* FR SR* SR* FR* SR* FR

Hometown Redlands, CA Rancho Cucamonga, CA Vista, CA Boise, ID Boise, ID Bellflower, CA Calgary, AB Usaf Academy, CO Reno, NV Bozeman, MT Eagle, ID Portland, OR Boise, ID Phoenix, AZ Boise, ID Meridian, ID Meridian, ID Lake Oswego, OR Elko, NV Elko, NV Los Alamitos, CA Rialto, CA San Diego, CA Glendale, AZ Anchorage, AK Las Vegas, NV Oxnard, CA Cypress, CA Anthony, KS Cleveland, TX Mountain Home, ID Los Alamitos, CA Goleta, CA Brea, CA Phoenix, AZ Prosser, WA Lethbridge, AB Glenns Ferry, ID Arlington, VA Kuna, ID Long Beach, CA Eagle, ID Anaheim, CA Phoenix, AZ Boise, ID Santa Cruz, CA North Pole, AK Los Angeles, CA Pittsburgh, PA Phoenix, AZ La Verne, CA Compton, CA Los Alamitos, CA Huntington Beach, CA Citrus Heights, CA Boise, ID Springdale, MD

No. Name 15 Nick Lomax 30 Michael Lose David Lowery 78 Paul Lucariello 17 Xavier Lucas Keith McGowen 66 Tad Miller 47 Anthony Montgomery 4 Legedu Naanee 88 Chris O’Neill 16 Tristan Patin 19 Vinny Perretta 18 Ellis Powers 39 Ryan Putnam 1 Jerard Rabb 48 Kapono Rawlins-Crivello 99 Esteban Reveles 14 Jason Robinson 68 Mitch Rudder 62 Kevin Sapien 8 Orlando Scandrick 97 Nick Schlekeway 91 Derek Schouman 6 Anthony Scott Jr. 43 David Shields 45 Andy Silsby 72 Matt Slater 90 Ian Smart 37 Austin Smith 42 Kyle Stringer 29 Evan Surratt 20 Marty Tadman 95 Sione Tavake 10 Taylor Tharp Stew Tracy 55 Garrett Tuggle 46 John Van Hoogen 70 Tony Volponi 96 Mike Williams 93 Mike Williams Darrell Wilson 22 Kyle Wilson 98 Ryan Winterswyk 60 Andrew Woodruff 5 Jared Zabransky

Pos. QB FB K OT WR CB OG K WR TE CB WR S TE WR DE DT S OL OL CB DE TE CB WLB RB OT DT CB K S S DT QB RB LB S OT DE DE DB CB DE OT QB

YR FR* JR* FR FR* FR FR JR* SR SR* SO* FR* SO* SO* JR* SR* FR JR FR FR FR SO JR SR JR* SO* FR* FR JR* JR* SR FR JR JR* JR* FR SO SO* SR* SR* SO* FR FR* FR SO* SR*

Hometown Lake Oswego, OR Sacramento, CA Boise, ID Chino, CA Tempe, AZ Lynwood, CA Boise, ID Portland, OR Orinda, CA Gardena, CA Encinitas, CA Lynwood, CA Chino, CA Orange, CA Honolulu, HI Los Angeles, CA Nampa, ID Torrance, CA Los Alamitos, CA Eagle, ID Eagle, ID Henderson, NV Wildwood, MO Boise, ID Saint Paul, MN Orange, CA San Bernardino, CA Humble, TX Newhall, CA Mission Viejo, CA Salt Lake City, UT Boulder, CO Boise, ID Pleasanton, CA Boise, ID Olympia, WA Lethbridge, AB Sacramento, CA Ontario, CA Piscataway, NJ La Habra, CA Victoria, BC Hermiston, OR

COACHES Head Coach: CHRIS PETERSEN

Asst. head coach/Offensive line: SEAN KUGLER Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks: BRYAN HARSIN Defensive coordinator: JUSTIN WILCOX Special teams/Running backs: JEFF CHOATE Tight ends: SCOTT HUFF Defensive line: PETE KWIATKOWSKI Wide receivers: BRENT PEASE Linebackers/Recruiting coordinator: VILIAMI TUIVAI Defensive secondary: MARCEL YATES

Offensive graduate asst.: KLAYTON ADAMS Defensive graduate asst.: WES NURSE Director of football operations: KEITH BHONAPHA Head strength & conditioning: TIM SOCHA Asst. strenth & conditioning: JARED AURICH, JORDAN McCOY Asst. AD/Athletic training: GARY GRANER Equipment manager: DALE HOLSTE Student manager: ANTHONY PARKER Administrative asst.: VICKI SULLIVAN

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DEREK SCHOUMAN • TIGHT END

I

’ll never forget the first running play we ran. The pregame hype was all about us being small, undersized, we couldn’t compete and all that, but that first run play we had, I felt like I belonged. I didn’t feel small or overpowered. I blocked my guy and that was a big confidence boost. It’s something I’ll never forget. It was like ‘we’re here, let’s forget that pregame stuff and let’s just play ball.’ And that’s what we did.

I had 29 catches that season, but eight of them came in that game. Only once all season did I have more than three catches prior to the eight catches I had in the Fiesta Bowl. Of course I absolutely loved that. As a young kid all you see on TV is catching passes and stats and all that, so from a selfish aspect, it was very fun to be involved in the passing game so much. Statistically speaking, it was just a great game.

I had some big blocks, I caught some passes, and I had a touchdown. It was just an awesome night all around.

There were multiple times in overtime that my number was called and they tried to get me the football. But the one everybody will likely remember is the 4th and 2 play when Vinny Perretta found me for the touchdown that set up the Statue of Liberty play. I was confident when the play came in because we had run it before in practice many times and I just felt good about it.

No, I wasn’t worried one bit. Everybody saw Vinny as a wide receiver, but he was an athlete. I wasn’t worried about him. He could do it all. We all were very confident in the play.

I still remember the play and the name like it was yesterday.

The whole key to the play was selling the fakes and I know you can see it on film, but Vinny did a great job when he was sweeping off to the right to tuck the ball a little bit. That was key for the second level of linebackers and safeties...to draw them in. My job was to sell that I was blocking. We had run FIRST FIESTA

a sweep out of that formation several times earlier in the season, so my job was to sell that run play.

I was trying to get to the second level, and the linebacker I was coming up on bit hard and took off. I think it was a safety on the backside that saw the play develop late, but I had a few steps on him by that point.

That play was the only one I’ve ever experienced where literally it seemed like time stood still. That ball was just hanging in the air so slowly, and I remember seeing the stripes spinning on the football. It was just slow and a very catchable, friendly football. Vinny just threw a perfect pass. It was awesome.

When I think of the highs and lows of the game, I can’t speak for anyone else, but I never once felt like we had the game won, even when we went up 28-10. However, I was very confident in our ability and wanted to keep it rolling. But then the game changed, they came back and then here we are in a tight battle at the end. That last interception — the pick six they had — I remember that was tough, because it was like ‘man, this is going to be hard to overcome’, but I still never felt like we were out of the game. It was a special year and I was confident in the guys we had, so it was just ‘here’s a little hurdle and let’s regroup and get it done.’ And that’s what we did.

Here we are 10 years later, and even now when I come backt o town I can see folks’ eyes light up when we talk about that game. We are all so invested.

I love seeing that. I was talking with some fans recently and they quite literally cheer up and have a big smile just thinking about the game. The whole city was behind us. Everyone feels like we all did it, and that’s pretty cool to see.

Our team was just a piece to the overall success the University is having. Boise State is doing so well, and has had so many years of success. I mean even just looking at the jerseys and helmets we wore back in that

flashback

GREG KRELLER/IPT

game and now they have like 27 different helmets or whatever. It’s just cool to see how far they’ve come and I am happy for those guys and the city of Boise.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME: I was born in Utah, but I moved to Boise when I was just a child. I consider myself from Idaho since I lived there so long, from Eagle Elementary to Eagle Middle and then Eagle High School.

Being a hometown kid really did make winning the game more special for me.

I grew up watching Boise State football. I remember watching us beat up on the Vandals on the Blue way up in the upper deck (I loved sitting high so I could analyze the play better) and thinking that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to play there! I couldn’t have scripted it any better.

WHERE AM I NOW: I am currently living in Salt Lake City, just being a dad, living life and enjoying my family.

I am doing some real estate and accounting work, and in my spare time I enjoy getting outdoors as well as experiencing what this city has to offer.

FALL 2016 | 41

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flashback Bryan Harsin • 2006 offensive coordinator The following article was written using quotes from an interview on ESPN Boise, and was approved by Harsin...

A

bout three years ago my wife and I went back and watched the DVD of the game and we hadn’t seen the TV copy until then.

That was a special night. Going into that game and the matchup of Boise State and Oklahoma, the game that we were in for Boise State being as big as it was, and then the outcome of it.

When you look back on it, I think the team that we had, the greatest thing about it was we had a bunch of really good players, guys that went on to play in the NFL. We did a lot of really great things throughout that year, and it wasn’t anything that anybody going into that season expected as far as this is what we’re going to get done but we just worked. I think going into that game was the same mindset.

I think everybody on that team, coaches included, we didn’t really roll out onto the field in the Fiesta Bowl going ‘wow.’ We were there to play and play well and there to do what we had been doing all year. There was that swagger on that team of ‘let’s go.’

We really felt like we could come out there and beat that team. We showed that early in the game when we put a few scores up and our guys were like ‘OK, we’re ahead, we’re playing well on defense, we’re playing well on offense,’ and guys were getting more and more excited. As the game went on, obviously Oklahoma played well and it got close at the end, but I think just the mindset of ‘we’re going to finish and win’, when it was all said and done just showed up at the end of that game.

That was my first year as offensive coordinator and what’s funny is you look back on it and Justin Wilcox, who was in his first year as defensive coordinator, and I kind of laugh about it.

44 | FALL 2016

We were prepared for it but still you’re in over your head, you’re learning as you go, you’re young trying to figure it out and that was probably the best thing about us two as coordinators we just believed enough that we could get it done. We had a little bit of that swagger every time you step out there that we were going to coach well. We had taught well throughout the week, and that was that team, that was coach Pete and that was that staff. As you went into that season and the mindset with coach Pete taking over and two young coordinators that got their shot – there was a lot to prove, a lot of energy and we were excited. The nice thing about it is who knew it was going to happen, but the players, coming off the previous year, I think we were 8-5, Zabransky in particular didn’t have a great year, and it was time. It was time for guys to step up and go out there and quit worrying about the previous year and just go to work. And it all came together in that 2006 season, just that mentality. Coach Pete did a great job keeping everybody focused all throughout the season and that game.

A lot of credit goes to the offense with how the game finished, but when I think about that season, I think about the games where we played San Jose State and won on a field goal and Wyoming. The defense stepped up, and I think just that entire team, when one side wasn’t playing well, the other side made plays and stood up. That stood out to me the most. That was one of our most complete teams when it came to all three phases. When we needed something, somebody got it done. That’s what was special about that team.

One particular play that stands out is with Drisan James early in the game.

We ran a double move on the outside and we said we were going to score, this is a touchdown, and it happened. I thought that was the early momentum that we needed against a team like

Oklahoma, to go put one in the end zone on that stage on a big play, that really sparked the entire team and kept those guys fired up for the rest of the game.

When I get asked about the trick plays in that game, I say ‘it wasn’t hard.

We had run out of plays and those were the ones that were left.’ Obviously there was more to it than that, but when we ran Circus, it was 4th and 18.

When you look at the game plan sheet, there’s a category that says ‘you’re in deep crap, it’s 4th and 18,’ so you just call it, you fold up your book and you pray and hope guys make a play, and they did. They executed it. And here’s the thing about those trick plays in that game. The way the players executed, it couldn’t have been any better, and it was in the most stressful situation they had been put in all year. That’s the most impressive thing to me, how well the players executed the play. And after the Hook and Ladder where Rabb takes it in, I think it was just the team feeling that we were unstoppable at that point and just call it and we’ll get it done.

The play in the game to me is the 4th and 2 where we direct snap it to Vinny Perretta and he throws it to Derek Schouman. That’s the one to me. We had a timeout, and we actually had a run play called, one of our base run plays, but I changed the call right before we went on the field. I called that and I was like, ‘is everybody good?’ and I got absolute crickets on the headset. Nobody was going ‘yeah, that’s a great call.’ Everybody was just quiet.

Zabransky is yelling at Pete that we’re going to take him out of the game, and they are fighting on the field and I’m telling him ‘hey just tell him to shut up and go run the play, it will work.’ And I remember as the guys were running out there, Pete came on the mic and said ‘you think this is going to work?’

And that’s when I got sweaty, right then and there. That’s when the seat started pouring and I was like ‘oh man, I hope FIRST FIESTA

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it does.’ But Vinny executed it perfectly and Derek was on the receiving end of it.

In that situation, it wasn’t really about the play call itself. It was about who the guys were executing it. Vinny Peretta was one of our stars that season, and Derek Schouman, who at that point in the game was just making play after play. That’s the one when I look back at it personally. I think that was one of the more better executed plays in that moment that we got done in order to go win. From that point, whatever we did, we were going to get it done.

On the Statue of Liberty play called ‘Statue Left,’ we had called that one time earlier in the year against Idaho and got some positive yards on it.

That was a play we had talked about.

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We made a small change though. We came out earlier in the game and ran a fast screen to the right, it was one that we ran earlier in the year that Nevada picked off, and Oklahoma had seen it and they about picked it off. Brent Pease, our wide receivers coach, said ‘hey if we go back and run Statue later in the game, we should run it like that and hurry up to the line of scrimmage.’

So we made the adjustment during the game, we had never run it that way but we talked about it and we got to the fourth quarter and our guys like they were prepared to do that. We were trying to get to it earlier in the game, and if you watch the play, we broke the huddle quickly and Jerard Rabb actually kind of screws it up and lines up and has to step back real quick and Zabransky did a great job of waiting for

him to get set, or we would have had a penalty. That was more nerve-racking to me because we hadn’t practiced it like that and we made the change during the game. But those guys executed it and finished out the game.

I don’t think that night we grasped what the win might mean for Boise State. You go back to 2001 when we played Fresno State and they were ranked No. 8, Greg Sasser at the end of the game on 4th down sacks the QB and we beat a top-10 team, that’s one that was a game changer where ‘we want this. We want to be part of these types of games and we want to be a team that can beat top-10 teams and be a top 10-team.’ A lot of that mentality built towards the Fiesta Bowl and when we had that chance, everybody was like ‘this is what we’ve been working for.’ We were so excited to be on that stage and go play. That game against Fresno State was the stepping stone to the Fiesta Bowl and from there, with our University in particular because of the stage we were on and opponent we beat. We didn’t know what would happen moving forward, but we knew something really big had happened. We didn’t know what that meant, but obviously we’re seeing the rewards from that game still with facilities and things that have happened with our program since then.

I understand that a lot of what I’ve done in the coaching profession has been tied back to that game, because it was the game that everybody saw and was excited about and being part of that game was huge. The players, the way we did things, the way we taught – I’ve probably used that formula ever since then every year. Just going back and thinking about the way we did things that year in terms of a staff and how we practiced and I try to carry that over to what we do now. There’s a lot of things from that year, you can’t go back and recreate, but you can go back and learn and build from because it was a successful season. And the type of guys we had on that team, there’s a lot of comparisons where we’ll say ‘that’s a Vinny Perretta type guy’ or ‘that’s a Derek Schouman, Ryan Putnam, Korey Hall type guy.’ You want to have guys like that in your program because they were special and they did special things.

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After scoring a touchdown in overtime to cut the deficit to 42-41, Boise State could have elected to kick an extra point and send the game to a second overtime. But with his players battling fatigue and Oklahoma’s offense rolling, coach Chris Petersen elected to try and win the game by going for the two-point conversion. “I didn’t think logically at the time on if it was the right decision or not to go for two,” defensive back Marty Tadman said.

“Obviously they put the perfect play in and it was wide open. It was the perfect ending.” Before Ian Johnson could propose to his girlfriend, he scored on this amazing play to end the game....

“The only thing I could think of was ‘The only way this doesn’t work, is if I trip.’ When I got in the open field, if you could read my lips, I was just saying ‘Don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip.’ That was the best we had ever run the play. Everybody did their job perfectly.”

— Ian Johnson

After initially acting like he was not part of the play, running back Ian Johnson grabs the ball from behind Zabransky’s back and takes off to the left. He uses blocks from tight end Derek Schouman and left tackle Ryan Clady to run untouched into the end zone.

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“That’s the only play we could have called. We had to score points fast.

We had no time. There was nothing else to call, and it just worked. The guys executed it to a T.” — Chris Petersen Boise State hurries up to the line of scrimmage, a change that was made just before the group ran onto the field, and the ball is quickly snapped.

Zabransky puts the ball in his left hand and uses his right hand to appear to throw the screen pass out to the right. He instead puts the ball behind his back with his left hand.

Quarterback Jared Zabransky drops back and looks to his right as the three wide receivers appear to be setting up for a screen pass. Legedu Naanee has his hands up and is ready for the pass, as Drisan James and Jerard Rabb block for him.

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flashback jerard rabb • wide receiver

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would hope some people remember me for other catches and plays during my career at Boise State, but I know most of them remember me for the Hook and Ladder, and you know what? That’s fine. It’s cool to be known for a play that was so big and such a valuable part of Boise State history and the uprising of Boise State into the BCS and stuff.

It’s special for me to be part of that and I do cherish that, even if that one play is the only one that people remember of me. I’ll still take that over nobody remembering me at all.

When I think back to that play, I just say ‘wow.’ There’s no play in the playbook for that situation. We were sitting there saying what can we possibly run here, and when they called ‘Circus’, we were all in the huddle and we looked at each other and we said, ‘well, now is the time to run it.’ We had to buy in and get on board but I’ll be honest…

When we broke the huddle, I was a little nervous knowing we had to run a play that never worked in practice.

We prepared for it and we ran that play every Friday as a last-ditch effort play in case we had to use it, so there was a little bit of confidence there, but we broke the huddle and I was like ‘wow, we’ve resorted to this play?’

But looking back at it, I don’t think you can ask for a better scenario for that play. It was deep enough to where the safeties had to make the play within five yards or we were going to get a first down and another shot, so when they had to come up to try and make the tackle on Drisan and end the game, that’s exactly what we wanted.

We sucked everybody to the middle of the field and that allowed me to get to the outside.

When he pitched me the ball, there was nothing more that mattered in life at that point than catching the ball, but after I secured it, I looked to my left and right and behind me and thought ‘I should be able to get in the end zone

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here’ and you can see on the replay that every five steps I kept looking back to make sure I was in the lead.

I was really concerned because the safety was pretty fast, so I was making sure that I had enough of an angle and a lead on him. If he got close, I was making sure where Ian and Jared Zabransky were in case I had to pitch it, but I wasn’t planning on pitching it unless I absolutely had to.

We ran the play in practice like I said and we never scored. We would pitch it back 5-6 times and throw it to the coaches and stuff just to keep the play alive. We’d keep it going for 20 seconds, but it would never work. The play was named perfectly. It was a circus.

When I think back to that team and that season, it really all started the season before. We lost to Boston College in the bowl game, Coach Hawkins left, so our seniors came together and made a point to change the outcome of the next season, no matter what. We were going to make next year memo-

rable. I remember our team getting closer and we bonded as a group to where when we got to that Fiesta Bowl, it hadn’t sunk in, the amount of impact that game would have on the school. It was just another game at the time.

Because of how close we were, we never really felt like anybody could beat us. We felt like we could have played the No. 1 team in the country next and beat them also. That’s how confident we were, and how close we were as a group. It showed in that game. But now, looking back 10 years later, I can see how big that game was.

That was such a big game, and it was awesome be a part of.

WHERE AM I NOW: I’m living over in Seattle working at Boeing, I have a family (wife and three kids) and we’re actually going to close on my house on a new house here in a couple weeks.

That’s my life. I come back to Boise every year for the Gridiron Dreams camp and try to give back to the community that was so generous to me.

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flashback marty tadman • defensive back

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e didn’t come into the game with any underdog mentality. I think that was mostly the media talking about that leading up to the game. We were prepared and we knew we could beat that team. We went into that game like any other game. That night was special not because of who we played but because of how it ended and we didn’t know how special it was really until the next day and later.

I’ve never watched the game. I’ve seen highlights and stuff but I’ve never actually sat down and watched it myself. I still remember the feelings of most of my interceptions or big plays and I can visualize those still in my head. I don’t know how long it will be until I am not able to do that anymore, but that’s part of the reason I haven’t watched the TV broadcasts or replays of the games, because I don’t want to lose the memories that I have in my own head.

I remember how loud it was on the field. I remember the first third down when we were on defense, it got so loud that the field started to shake beneath my feet. I remember that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sound like that since.

On my first interception there was a blown coverage. I think there were three wide receivers on that side and there were three defensive backs supposed to play man to man and I was the free safety over the top. One of our other safeties had messed up on the coverage and he was running wide open down the field. I remember seeing him wide open and just happened to get there, and the ball was a little bit underthrown so I was able to get there and catch it before the receiver got it. I came down with the ball and the receiver hit me from behind and I got tackled in the end zone.

The other one I remember pretty vividly as well. It was a pretty easy play. We had studied that formation.

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We studied tendencies a lot and what formations they ran on what hash marks and down and distances, and I think there was only one play they had run all year out of that formation in that down and distance, and coach Wilcox put the perfect blitz on. Korey Hall and Colt Brooks blitzed up the field side and I just kind of dropped down because they always ran a slant, and Korey tipped the ball and it hit me right in the chest. It was impossible to drop that one, and there was nobody in front of me so luckily I didn’t trip over myself and I made it into the end zone.

It’s a perfect example of what made Boise State so special, and what made Oklahoma not that big up an upset victory for us. We prepared so well as a team and on defense, I trusted the coaches, we were on the same page with our defensive coordinator and we remembered that they had only run that one play out of that formation.

It’s part of our program. It’s something special here at Boise State, how we prepare for games.

I don’t think we thought that interception return for a touchdown put it away, but we certainly felt like we were dominating the game all the way up until the fourth quarter. We were up 28-10 and it was the same old story for us, getting out to an early lead and getting turnovers and getting touchdowns, but then the comeback happened from Oklahoma.

I thought we had lost. I thought it was over. When our offense was on the field and they threw the interception and Oklahoma scored with a minute and something left to take the lead, I was a fan on the sidelines like everybody else, but I just had a better seat.

I remember thinking ‘it’s over, I can’t believe we just lost this game, we gave it to them.’ They wore us down a little bit on defense with their size and we had a few untimely turnovers and then the next thing you know, we’re losing.

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I remember it was fourth down and 18 and a defensive lineman Ian Smart was right next to me, and all of a sudden the hook and latter comes. I had no idea it was coming. It had never worked on us in practice, and all of a sudden it’s working and I’m jumping up and down on the sideline as Rabb is running down the field. He scores and I’ve been told that the TV broadcast cuts to me at some point, there was a camera by us, and me and Ian Smart do a big bear hug on national TV. We were out there for one play in overtime and Adrian Peterson scored on a rushing touchdown, and then we were back on the sidelines watching and I couldn’t believe Vinny completes the halfback pass and then all of a sudden the statue of liberty play comes.

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It was amazing. I was in shock like the rest of the world. It was a fantastic ending that I had no idea was coming. It was a big surprise.

I was glad we decided to go for two.

We were getting worn down on defense because they had such big bodies up front and their speed was starting to wear us down. At that point, I was just a fan and I was still in shock. I didn’t think logically at the time on if it was the right decision or not to go for two, but our coaches were so good and so dialed in and looking back at it there was no reason to ever second guess and obviously they put the perfect play in and it was wide open. It was the perfect ending.

When we came back to town and had the parade, that was one of the surreal moments that kind of set it apart from any other victory. It was the FIRST FIESTA

city of Boise that made it so special and hasn’t let us forget it. The constant reminders like walking into Walmart and seeing the game constantly playing on every TV there. It’s stuff like that that really made me realize how big it was.

It’s one of my most prideful moments when people ask or find out I played football at Boise State and the years I played. When they find out I played against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, you get to talking and when people find out I was the defensive MVP of the game, it kind of sparks up the room and a little bit. Even today, it’s still a big deal to talk about that game.

I’ll be on the golf course in southern California and somebody will see my Boise State ball marker and they will start asking me about that game. Not a week goes by in either my business or

every day life that I’m not talking about that game in some shape or form. It’s been great.

WHERE AM I NOW: My wife and I have been married for 10 years and we live in Boise. We got married in college and we have three daughters, ages 7, 6 and 3 months old. I have a financial planning business that my wife and I run called Tadman Financial. We’re based here in Boise and have an office in Irvine, California, so we kind of split time between Boise and California for work and family. I try to golf when I can and just spend time with my kids.

It’s a completely different life than 10 years ago. My wife and I had been married for six months at the time and she was on the trip to the Fiesta Bowl with me. It’s surreal looking back at it being 10 years now.

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flashback drisan james • wide receiver

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started hearing conversations through the grapevine about a reunion and guys meeting up and things we would do to commemorate the win, and then they said it’s the 10year anniversary and that’s when it hit me. I was like ‘what? It’s been 10 years since I wore that Boise State uniform?’

It’s crazy that it’s been that long.

But even though it’s been 10 years, the game is still very distinct in my mind still. I have glimpses of that victory because it was a magical one.

Boise State was already on the map, but it defined us on the map. It let a lot of people out there know that we were for real. It was definitely a statement.

A lot of people remember me for being involved in the Hook and Ladder, but I also had two touchdowns earlier in that Fiesta Bowl. On the first one, I remember the week of practice before we even got to Arizona. They told us we were going to run that play, where I would run a double move and go deep, and I loved it. ‘This is my bread and butter. This is my scoring play.’ But the whole freaking week I dropped the ball. I’d be wide open and I’d drop it every time down in the end zone in the indoor facility. That’s how vivid these memories are for me. I remember everything, from the preparation to the game.

When they called the play in the game, the lights were on, and I was pumped up. I said I’m going to score on this. I ran the route and the coverage they had was what we saw from the scout team, and we sold it perfectly with the play action and the rest was history. I was wide open, and I made the catch, and we took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

That was a big score for us to get the lead, but the second touchdown I scored right before the half was definitely a momentum boost for us.

On that play, I fake like I am taking the handoff but I’m not an option on that play. There’s no reason I should get the

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ball on that play. You fake the handoff and Zabransky has a couple reads, one across the middle, maybe a post, but if it’s not there, he has a check that he can hit, and last but not least he just burns it out of bounds. I wasn’t any of those four options.

I still give Z some stuff today and I try to tell him he threw that ball with his eyes closed. The way it came was in a duck form and I think he was just chucking it out of bounds as hard as he could, and I was like ‘man, this thing is

coming right to me.’ I think it caught everybody off guard because we never practiced that whatsoever. I caught it near the sideline, and when I took off for the end zone, it was just pure adrenaline. It was the last game I will ever play in a Boise State uniform, and I didn’t want to go down. That put us up 21-10 with 33 seconds left before the half and was big for us.

On the Hook and Ladder, the crazy thing is just understanding the platform we were playing on and where we FIRST FIESTA

were at that point in time. We had just thrown a pick-6 the series before and it definitely deflates an offense when you have a turnover. Coming into the huddle after that, all the chips were stacked up against us, and you have a few options. You can throw a hail mary, which nine times out of 10 doesn’t work, and you can just goof around and do all the laterals and chuck it around and in the NFL and college football, it usually ends up in a fumble and it never works.

When the play came into the huddle, we said ‘OK, this is for real.’ We couldn’t chuck the ball 50 yards behind us and have Zabransky do something insane like in practice. It was all about execution. For the Hook and Ladder to be called and executed the way it was, honestly it took us four years of execution on this play and four years of just jacking around in practice and the one time that you actually had to run it serious and it actually worked, it was just a miracle. It was insane.

When the ball came to me, it came really slow. It was a routine catch and pitch, and to see Rabb coming around on his horse, that was pretty awesome.

It was just insane the way it worked.

All I did as soon as I pitched it, the No. 1 thing I did was I turned around and said ‘alright dude, you better get to that end zone, because this is it.’ And it was awesome seeing him run like a 4.4 and diving into the end zone.

You have to understand why it was a miracle that the play worked. The play was called ‘Circus’ for a reason. It’s the very last play of walk-through, so of course you are going to jack around.

You have to let guys have a little fun, so the coaches let us let loose and chuck the ball around and the fact that it was so light-hearted, I think that’s why it stuck to us as far as fundamentals and where we needed to be. It was crunch time, and nine times out of 10, a lot of people in that pressure spot and situation would fold. That just shows you how significant that play was and how well executed it had to be for us to score on that play.

As far as the win, I always knew it

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was a significant win, but it took me years to realize just how significant it was. That was my senior year and you start focusing on your professional career and chasing that dream after the game ends. At that time it was ‘yeah, we beat Oklahoma. Yeah, we won a Fiesta Bowl.’ But as time progressed and you come back to town for a football camp or whatever, and you started realizing and understanding what it meant to the town and the program.

You see a lot of things that weren’t there, with the new football facility and the Student Union, the new Engineering building. It’s just insane what that win actually did and not just sports but for the academic side of things as well.

It helped give a reference point for the University and the city of Boise that

“The play was called ‘Circus’ for a reason. ... It was just a miracle.”

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‘we’re the team that won that Fiesta Bowl.’ It’s something we all take pride in, but it didn’t hit me until probably a year or two ago just how bit that win really was.

The 10-year anniversary and the reunion this fall really gives us as players a chance to say thanks to the city of Boise and the state of Idaho. To have a city and state that is willing to give back as much as they do is awesome. I mean we had a parade after we won that game, and going back to the University itself and the team itself, we need to thank them because they understand what that victory was. It’s time. It’s time for my teammates and myself to say thank you to the fans and the community of Boise. It’s going to be awesome to be back on The Blue one more time and look up and see a packed house. Hopefully we get a nice ‘Boise State’ chant going because that always gave me goose bumps.

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flashback gerald alexander • safety

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ow that I’ve gotten into coaching, I see how special that season really was. There was some transition obviously with coach Hawk leaving and coach Pete becoming the head coach. We had two new coordinators that year in coach Harsin and coach Wilcox, and jut seeing how the coaches were able to keep us on the right path, we had a lot of seniors, but to see the adversity we went through that season and being able to pull out some of those close games and not blink. And not just Oklahoma, we had some battles on the road like at San Jose State and I think about that now as a coach, and I try to instill that into my players, to not blink and learn to fight through adversity, and I think about it now and I just see how special that was and how great of a job that coach Pete did.

Obviously time goes by pretty fast and seeing where things have gone with the program since then, that was obviously kind of the starting point of where it’s catapulted to as a program, so it’s pretty awesome to be part of that. I can’t believe how long it’s been to be honest, and where the program has taken itself with the facilities and everything that has happened since.

Seeing them go back to more Fiesta Bowls and winning them and everything, it just makes it very prideful as an alum.

I knew 10 years later that people would be talking about the game. It was one of the better games in the history of college football, and with the storyline with Oklahoma being a powerhouse and us being an up and comer, the ‘David and Goliath’ aspect and with how it played out, I knew it would be talked about and it will be talked about even past today.

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“This is everything I’ve worked for, and it’s over. Not that I didn’t believe, but things were going our way and then just like that, we were losing. You couldn’t even put it in a movie script and felt like it was going to be real with the hook and lateral and everything that happened after that.” never forget was the night before the game. Orlando Scandrick was my roommate and the two of us were watching another game or some FOX pregame thing and the trivia question was ‘What’s the largest margin of victory in Fiesta Bowl history?’ We were like, ‘these guys really think we’re going to go out there and get blown out.’ And with the way the game turned out, it’s just incredible to be part of something like that.

I had an interception in the game, and I just remember it was kind of a broken play. Paul Thompson the quarterback was scrambling to make a play and he thought he had a receiver deep, but me and Marty Tadman were back there and he just made an ill-advised pass and I picked it off. The one thing I remember is how tired I was on the return and getting to our sideline and Adrian Peterson forming me up with a great tackle on the sideline. It didn’t hurt or anything, but I was kind of relieved because I was dog tired. And then with the celebration everybody was congratulating me for making a big play but I was just trying to catch my breath.

But the one play I’ll never forget is the touchdown that Oklahoma scored.

It was my fault on the play. Players always think about the bad things, even in good moments like that. There was a touchdown near the goal line, and on TV it looked like it was Kyle Wilson’s

fault, but it was actually my fault based on my positioning as a safety within the call. I think about if I had just done my job, I probably would have gone 96 yards to the house and gotten the MVP, because that would have been my second interception of the game.

Riding the ups and downs of the game is different than watching as a fan, but I remember the last interception that Oklahoma had when they took the lead, and my whole thought process when I was on the bench: this is everything I had worked for, and it’s over. Not that I didn’t believe, but things were going our way and then just like that, we were losing. You couldn’t even put it in a movie script and felt like it was going to be real with the hook and lateral and everything that happened after that.

And that hook and lateral never worked on us in practice. Never. This was something we did every Friday at our walk-through. It was the final play.

They would just run this crazy play and not even at full speed, and they’d still mess it up every time with a bad pass or a bad pitch. There were all kinds of stuff that would happen. We did it every week for like two years and it never worked, and then in the biggest moment we needed the play, it worked flawlessly. Again, you couldn’t write it for a movie because you’d think there was no way it could happen in real life.

But to see it happen…wow.

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Going into overtime, we were gassed.

We didn’t have a whole lot of depth, and that first play of overtime was a great picture of that. I mean Adrian Peterson went untouched into the end zone. So I liked the decision to go for two.

When I saw the formation, I knew exactly what play was coming and when I saw how Oklahoma lined up, I was just getting ready to run on the field because I knew we had won. It was a great call with all the factors involved. It was a big gamble by coach Pete, but it was awesome, and to think about all the emotions that come after that play and the game and seeing everything we had worked for, not just FIRST FIESTA

in that game and that season, but our whole senior class and what we went through to get to that point, it was just awesome.

I still kick myself to this day because I had a video camera with me the entire week of the Fiesta Bowl and even after the postgame and videotaping the celebration, but I can’t find the tape. I really wish I could find that tape from when we won the game, but I don’t know where it is.

To kind of sum this all up, there’s just a lot of pride. I think anybody that has walked through those doors as a football player at Boise State, whether you played in the Fiesta Bowl or when it was Boise Junior College, anybody that

has put their blood, sweat and tears into the program, just to see where it is today, you have a lot of pride. You were part of that. I don’t care if you played five minutes or five years, as an alum, to see where it is and where it’s going to continue to go, it’s just awesome.

I remember signing with Boise State and being a kid from southern California, nobody knew where Boise was and nobody knew about Boise State. Now you see the logo all over the country.

Everybody knows about Boise State now. And there’s just a lot of pride in that, knowing you were part of that.

I’m just so happy with where it’s at and where it’s going to continue to go.

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