Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid Verbal. I'm that for me. I'm
Speaker 1: a man, I'm for I've heard so many players say, well,
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Speaker 1: for day Ado State?
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: Whoo whoo and no, Dan and.
Speaker 2: Tie, welcome back to the Solid Verbal, Boys and girls.
Speaker 2: My name is Ty hilden Brandt, joining me as always
Speaker 2: still way way over there and beautiful in sunny in
Speaker 2: southern California. My man, Dan Rubinstein, Sir, how are you?
Speaker 1: I'm great, Ty, I have set up the claws two
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Speaker 1: that you know the Stefanel sketch like this club has
Speaker 1: it all, This game and this time has it all.
Speaker 2: Tie, thank you for downloading the show. I'm Tye, He's Dan.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Today, today we're going to put a cap on the
Speaker 2: two thousand and six college football season. It wasn't the
Speaker 2: National Championship game, but for all intents and purposes, the
Speaker 2: two thousand and seven Fiesta Ball on New Year's Day
Speaker 2: was the capstone game for that season.
Speaker 1: I think it's all intense, double purposes. Yeah, it's absolutely
Speaker 1: the game people remember about this time in this bowl
Speaker 1: season and this season in general. And we went through
Speaker 1: a little bit of two thousand and six, and I
Speaker 1: guess we can get into it momentarily from a college
Speaker 1: football perspective. And you know, I've got my early two
Speaker 1: thousand and seven billboard charts in box office. But yes,
Speaker 1: when you think of this time, sure you can look
Speaker 1: fondly back at Percy Harvin and Troyce Smith and what
Speaker 1: maybe perhaps Troyce Smith wasn't able to do against Percy
Speaker 1: Harvin's team in the National Championship. But where USC was,
Speaker 1: where LSU was, Michigan, Wisconsin, Rutgers, even Texas BYU Arkansas.
Speaker 1: All of these programs had wild seasons, wild games. Your
Speaker 1: Notre Dame fighting Irish, not my Oregon Doux. But in
Speaker 1: terms of seminal not just moments, but a series of
Speaker 1: moments we have this has been the game that has
Speaker 1: been the most requested to look back upon with twenty
Speaker 1: twenty eyes, and it has been the game we look
Speaker 1: at the Bush push, you know, like, wow, Wow, these
Speaker 1: offenses are a little bit more boring than I remember.
Speaker 1: And you look back at Auburn Oregon and you're like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: the Oregon offense was worse than I remember it, even
Speaker 1: though it was a Chip Kelly team. And we look
Speaker 1: back at Miami Ohio State and you're like, well, man,
Speaker 1: I don't know about this Ohio State offense. I can't
Speaker 1: believe they pulled it out with thirty five yards of
Speaker 1: scoring yardage on offense. Looking back at the Boise State
Speaker 1: Oklahoma game, I remember essentially nothing before those crazy, weird,
Speaker 1: wild moments, and it floored me more than perhaps all
Speaker 1: of those previous three rewatches combined. I don't know about you, Well,
Speaker 1: this game was different.
Speaker 2: It was different because of what it symbolized, right, the
Speaker 2: other games that we've done Notre Dame USC two blue
Speaker 2: blood programs. Right, Yes, we had Miami, We've had Ohio State,
Speaker 2: We've had Oregon, We've had Auburn. Like these are name
Speaker 2: brand programs at this point in time, but Boise State,
Speaker 2: at least back in two thousand and seven still very
Speaker 2: much carried with them this aura of the underdog. They
Speaker 2: were in the whack at that point in time. They
Speaker 2: won the whack. So to have the opportunity to play
Speaker 2: up against a traditional power like Oklahoma, that was a
Speaker 2: pretty significant event, pretty significant moment in college football, especially
Speaker 2: since there was so much steam at the time. I
Speaker 2: remember about Boise State potentially getting a shot at the
Speaker 2: national championship? Are they good enough? Do they deserve to
Speaker 2: be there? This was that game. This was that moment.
Speaker 1: So you're right.
Speaker 2: We got a ton of requests from people who wanted
Speaker 2: to go back through this game, who have relived moments
Speaker 2: for us of this game on our social media feeds.
Speaker 1: We were certainly due to.
Speaker 2: Talk about d two thousand and seven Fiesta Ball again
Speaker 2: between the Boise State Broncos and the Oklahoma Sooners. The
Speaker 2: game went to overtime, Boise State one forty three to
Speaker 2: forty two, on a statue of liberty play right not
Speaker 2: to bury the lead. Going in to the game, Oklahoma
Speaker 2: was a healthy seven and a half point favorite.
Speaker 1: M HM.
Speaker 2: Things got weird in the fourth quarter, which we will
Speaker 2: get into, including twenty five straight points by Oklahoma to
Speaker 2: take the lead. Their first lead of the game was
Speaker 2: just over a minute left. Both teams ended up scoring
Speaker 2: a combined twenty two points in the final minute and
Speaker 2: a half of regulation and then fifteen points in overtime.
Speaker 2: And that's all on top of the trick plays, which
Speaker 2: I know we're going to talk extensively about here, but
Speaker 2: let's start here just to provide some context. I'm read
Speaker 2: the passers by Dan college football landscape going into this game,
Speaker 2: because you're right, two thousand and six was a nutso
Speaker 2: year in college football.
Speaker 1: So Florida wins the national championship going away from Ohio State.
Speaker 1: That is Chris Leak and Tim Tebow as a change
Speaker 1: of pay sort of short yardage trick play quarterback, so
Speaker 1: it was not the full Tebow experience. Troy Smith wins
Speaker 1: the Heisman. We have this crazy one versus two Ohio
Speaker 1: State Michigan. Will they play each other in a rematch
Speaker 1: National Championship after they played too I believe it was
Speaker 1: forty two to thirty nine late in November for their
Speaker 1: rivalry game. So that was a talking point, that was
Speaker 1: a narrative, and you mentioned the Boise State going undefeated,
Speaker 1: the talking point do they deserve a shot at the
Speaker 1: national championship? And right away into this game, by the way,
Speaker 1: there was that narrative that David versus Goliath. Literally it
Speaker 1: was David versus Glythe is how they talked about Boise State.
Speaker 1: And I suppose for some reason, Oklahoma I guess their
Speaker 1: blue blood status and they had won a national championship
Speaker 1: what six years prior over Florida State? Is that right?
Speaker 1: Two thousand? That sounds sure right? So yeah, Oklahoma also
Speaker 1: appears in two national championships after that and before this game,
Speaker 1: losing to USC and losing to LSU. So that wasn't
Speaker 1: a great way to go into another large game in
Speaker 1: early January, but they were here once again. You had
Speaker 1: Steve Slayton and Pat White. By the way, at West Virginia,
Speaker 1: Auburn finishes in the top ten. No, you have the
Speaker 1: beginning of the Colt McCoy era post Vince Young Texas.
Speaker 1: I think Keevin Sneed comes in there a little bit
Speaker 1: before transferring out and ends up at Ole Miss Wisconsin
Speaker 1: and PJ. Hill. There's a lot of those guys, and
Speaker 1: we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the other I
Speaker 1: think the biggest other group of five story for a
Speaker 1: number of weeks during this time, which was Hawaii and
Speaker 1: Colt Brennan right right, oh, and big time you look,
Speaker 1: you look at the sort of the country's leaders in yardage, passing, receiving, rushing.
Speaker 1: It wasn't as fun as looking back at two thousand
Speaker 1: and three to me in terms of where college football
Speaker 1: was at. It was good, but there were a lot
Speaker 1: of names that had that just floated into the ether
Speaker 1: pretty quickly. You're like, hey, I guess that guy did exist.
Speaker 1: And cal was fun that year, but it's you know,
Speaker 1: for every Marshawn Lynch and Deshaun Jackson and Justin Forcett
Speaker 1: that we still remember. You look back and you're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: Nate Longshore, that was the guy tasked with making that
Speaker 1: engine go in the then Pac ten And you know,
Speaker 1: Louisville was good at this time. USC we can talk
Speaker 1: about with just like an absurd recruiting class going into
Speaker 1: the season with their five blue chip running backs on
Speaker 1: the cover of Sports Illustrated and losing at Corvallis for
Speaker 1: at least the first time in two years or the
Speaker 1: second time. It's the first time two thousand and six.
Speaker 1: They lose again in two thousand and eight in Corvallis,
Speaker 1: so that their struggles with Oregon State begin there. They
Speaker 1: end up winning the Rose Bowl. LSU has jimbo Fisher
Speaker 1: and Bo Polini as coordinators. It's a coach time, great coach,
Speaker 1: very very good coach here, and very very good coach
Speaker 1: game in terms of that guy is on this staff
Speaker 1: as well in talking about that festival between Boise and
Speaker 1: in Oklahoma.
Speaker 2: I'm looking right now at the top passers from the
Speaker 2: two thousand and six college football season, and this is
Speaker 2: going to be a theme that we play over and
Speaker 2: over again as we go back through this game. How
Speaker 2: far down on this list do I need to go
Speaker 2: before I get to what I do consider the first
Speaker 2: NFL quarterback to have any amount of longevity?
Speaker 1: So this is in what category? Like rating?
Speaker 2: This is yards per attent, yards per attempt. I'm looking
Speaker 2: at the full list here. There's one hundred names on
Speaker 2: this list. How far down on that list do I
Speaker 2: have to go before I can find a quarterback that's played,
Speaker 2: you know, a fair amount in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Who could be described as a respectable NFL career quarterback.
Speaker 1: I would say a career backup, Okay, class so not
Speaker 1: even So I was going to say, how far down
Speaker 1: do you have to go to get to Brady Quinn?
Speaker 1: I would say probably not in the top fifteen, because
Speaker 1: I remember looking at the top and shout out Kevin Cobbs,
Speaker 1: shout out JaMarcus Russell and John Beck. But I wouldn't
Speaker 1: consider them with length consider them to be quote NFL
Speaker 1: quarterbacks at this point.
Speaker 2: This is again based on yards per attempt. Let me
Speaker 2: read through this, okay, okay, Cult Brennan, Brian Brahm, John Beck,
Speaker 2: JaMarcus Russell, not going to talk too much about you, Russell,
Speaker 2: Jared Jared Zabranski, a name man you should get used
Speaker 2: to hearing as we go through this game. Tyler Palco
Speaker 2: from Pitt Kevin Cobb, who the Eagles reached for and
Speaker 2: did get much out of, Eric Ainge, Bobby Reed, Jordan Palmer,
Speaker 2: Andre Woodson, Adam I can't even say this guy's name
Speaker 2: from San Jose State, Chase Holbrook, Zach Taylor, Troy Smith
Speaker 2: won the Heisman, didn't do much at the next level.
Speaker 2: John Stocko, who was at Wisconsin for about eighteen years.
Speaker 1: He's a low key favorite of yours too.
Speaker 2: Love John Stockoe, Chris Leak, who had a great campaign
Speaker 2: won the national Championship, Matt Grothe from USF, and all
Speaker 2: the way down at number nineteen you get to Colt McCoy,
Speaker 2: who's by and large been a backup at the next level.
Speaker 2: But I say all this to underscore the fact that
Speaker 2: it really was not a great quarterback year. Despite the
Speaker 2: fact that it was a nuts a year in college
Speaker 2: football with a lot of excitement, wasn't a great quarterback year.
Speaker 1: And that is.
Speaker 2: I think at least where I want to steer this
Speaker 2: discussion as we get into this actual game.
Speaker 1: I have some good year for quarterbacks, goodyear for quarterbacks
Speaker 1: named Colt, though between McCoy and not true high watermark
Speaker 1: for cults, I don't see any Rockies or Tom Thums though. Okay,
Speaker 1: so where do we want to start right now? Do
Speaker 1: we want to get into the game. Do you want
Speaker 1: to talk about the context of both Oklahoma and Boise State,
Speaker 1: going into this game.
Speaker 2: Absolutely so Boise State. Boise State sort of the easy one.
Speaker 2: There had been momentum building around Boise State for years,
Speaker 2: and Boise State actually, by the time all was said
Speaker 2: and done, was the only team in the two thousand
Speaker 2: and six Slash seven season to finish undefeated, only team
Speaker 2: to finish undefeated that year. They had an interesting cast
Speaker 2: of characters. If I do say so myself. Their personnel
Speaker 2: in the secondary really jumped out me. A young Kyle
Speaker 2: Wilson who went on to a good NFL career. We
Speaker 2: had a young Orlando Scandric. Both those guys were younger
Speaker 2: and in the defensive backfield. They also had Ryan Clady,
Speaker 2: who played a long time in the NFL sure along
Speaker 2: their offensive line. I think he was like a red
Speaker 2: shirt sophomore something like that. Otherwise, though, it was really
Speaker 2: just a bunch of good team guys.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: We texted back and forth about Jared Zabranski, and I
Speaker 2: said fifth in yards per attempt. There was an intensity
Speaker 2: that came off of Zabranski that when we get to
Speaker 2: our question of who was the best player on the field,
Speaker 2: Zabranski makes a really strong case for being the best
Speaker 2: player on the field that night, just because of that intensity. Dan.
Speaker 1: I always have a healthy amount of respect for people
Speaker 1: who are able to maximize, absolutely get every single drop
Speaker 1: out of their athletic potential. And that is what Jared
Speaker 1: Zebranski was able to do. I don't say that in
Speaker 1: any sort of disrespectful tone or way. He got everything
Speaker 1: that he possibly could have out of his ability culminating
Speaker 1: in this game. Also important to know, by the way,
Speaker 1: and you talk about the best player in this game
Speaker 1: or the best player on Boise State, this Boise team,
Speaker 1: when you look at them, you mentioned there were a
Speaker 1: couple NFL players. Those were the exceptions die. This was
Speaker 1: a team in the whack for at this point six
Speaker 1: or seven years. They've only been and it was called
Speaker 1: one A at this point. They had only been a
Speaker 1: Division one A program since nineteen ninety seven. Obviously, who
Speaker 1: do they bring in? They need a steady hand to
Speaker 1: make the transition. Gotta be Houston nutt, Gotta be Houston
Speaker 1: nut Gotta here he leaves. They they it's dirt Cutter,
Speaker 1: It's Dan Hawkins. But there wasn't. Even though it feels
Speaker 1: like a culmination for Boise State, because they win, they
Speaker 1: go twelve and one, thirteen and one, eleven and one,
Speaker 1: they have a nine one year, then they go thirteen
Speaker 1: ozho in two thousand and six. This is year one
Speaker 1: of Chris Peterson, and he doesn't even though he was
Speaker 1: there before. It's he overhauls the staff because Dan Hawkins
Speaker 1: takes five or six coaches with him to Colorado. So
Speaker 1: this is a new program, even though there is a
Speaker 1: good amount of momentum, whereas Oklahoma they're used to this stage.
Speaker 1: They've been to two, if not three national championships recently.
Speaker 1: They have what I would argue to be the running
Speaker 1: back who runs with the most furious head of steam
Speaker 1: that I think we've seen in the modern era in
Speaker 1: Adrian Peterson. They have speed on the outside that Boise
Speaker 1: simply doesn't. They have you know, Rufus Alexander at linebacker,
Speaker 1: who I think is the All Big twelve defensive player
Speaker 1: of the year that season, and Cjiu, who is you know,
Speaker 1: a legit top level player on the line for Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: This Oklahoma squad, even though it was a weird transition
Speaker 1: two thousand and five, was Rhet Bomar, and he certainly
Speaker 1: didn't seem like the answer, but kind of also was
Speaker 1: the quarterback of the future. He gets kicked off the
Speaker 1: team in August for a no show job at a
Speaker 1: car dealership, thrusting Paul Thompson, who was largely fine during
Speaker 1: the regular season during the regular season. You need to
Speaker 1: there's your caveat largely fine during the regular season, thrust
Speaker 1: him into the starting role. But you figure with a
Speaker 1: healthy amount of high level talent playing indoors, with what
Speaker 1: I would say is the speed advantage, the depth advantage,
Speaker 1: and the experience, the experience on this stage, that Oklahoma
Speaker 1: is in a pretty good spot going into this fiesta. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure.
Speaker 2: And one thing that you did leave out was that
Speaker 2: Adrian Peterson broke his collar bone. Oh yeah against Iowa
Speaker 2: State that season. Yeah, and he rushed for some insane
Speaker 2: amount of yardage. I guess it was a little over
Speaker 2: one thy and twelve touchdowns in just seven games. He
Speaker 2: was very, very good. This game actually represented his return
Speaker 2: to football. He suited up after three months on the
Speaker 2: shelf with the broken collar boom, so his talent was
Speaker 2: on full display. We saw it a little bit more
Speaker 2: as the game wore on, what ap all Day could
Speaker 2: bring to the field. He obviously scored in overtime as well,
Speaker 2: but for sure a much more talented Oklahoma squad. Now,
Speaker 2: they didn't play as well as Boise as a team,
Speaker 2: and ultimately that's what led somewhat to their demise. But
Speaker 2: two teams coming at this from very different points of view.
Speaker 2: Oklahoma that year finished eleven and three, So they lost
Speaker 2: to Boise in the postseason. They also lost the Red
Speaker 2: River shootout to Texas, and then I believe they lost
Speaker 2: by one on the road to your Oregon Ducks.
Speaker 1: Do you remember why they lost by one to my
Speaker 1: Orgon Ducks. That would be an on side kick that
Speaker 1: was judged to have gone ten yards that Oregon recovered
Speaker 1: near the end of the game. Controversially decided that it
Speaker 1: had gone ten yards, and maybe it didn't, maybe it didn't,
Speaker 1: but it did give Oregon. Oregon had blocked a field
Speaker 1: goal and scored to get there. It gave Oregon another
Speaker 1: last second chance, and upon further review, it may have
Speaker 1: been a generous call on the field that favored the
Speaker 1: home the hometown Ducks, and Oregon did get just absolutely
Speaker 1: murdered the year before in Norman in the home and home.
Speaker 1: So I don't know if that changes what Oklahoma's postseason
Speaker 1: looks like because it's a non conference game and they
Speaker 1: had still won the Big Twelve and had a loss
Speaker 1: on their schedule. Who knows, but yeah, that was That
Speaker 1: was a to bring up both the Boise game and
Speaker 1: the Oregon game on the same show because it was
Speaker 1: the same year. I don't think a lot of Oklahoma
Speaker 1: fans are listening to this show because of the topic,
Speaker 1: but I am sorry we did. We did not give
Speaker 1: you a trigger warning.
Speaker 2: This game was on Fox, it was part of the
Speaker 2: BCS Bull Bash, and one of the things that jumped
Speaker 2: out at me on the rewatch was just how modern
Speaker 2: the product felt. Oftentimes you go back, you watch some
Speaker 2: of these old games and it just feels like a
Speaker 2: dated product. Back in two thousand and five when we
Speaker 2: did the Notre Dame game, a lot of equips by
Speaker 2: one Tom Hammond about oh HD, look at that hope
Speaker 2: you're watching in high definition. We had high definition in
Speaker 2: two thousand and seven, and in the watch back, it
Speaker 2: really felt like more of a modern product. We had
Speaker 2: an announcer combination of Tom Brenneman as the main play
Speaker 2: by play guy, serving I think a necessary purpose to
Speaker 2: balance out the unbridled optimism of Barry Alvarez who was
Speaker 2: in the booth, and Charles Davis who was also in
Speaker 2: the booth, a three man booth up there. We had
Speaker 2: Chris Myers on the sidelines. We'll need to talk about
Speaker 2: him a little bit later. A little bit later, this
Speaker 2: game was played in Glendale at the new Cardinal Stadium,
Speaker 2: I believe, for the first time after many years of
Speaker 2: being hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. As they
Speaker 2: said on the broadcast, they had to bring in an
Speaker 2: additional twelve thousand seats for this football game. Wow, which
Speaker 2: I don't feel like is a commonality among most of.
Speaker 1: The bowl games we talk about. So there was suffice to.
Speaker 2: Say, Dan, there was a lot of interest going into
Speaker 2: this football game. This truly was, as he said earlier,
Speaker 2: a David versus Golias scenario in college football.
Speaker 1: Yes, and our second rewatch that takes place in the
Speaker 1: stadium also the home of the Auburn Oregon game a
Speaker 1: few years later, three years later, four years later or whatever.
Speaker 1: And the same referee from that game, same really ref
Speaker 1: from It's a big ten ref and big ten crew.
Speaker 1: I believe it's the full crew is big ten, same
Speaker 1: head ref from the Michael Dyer was definitely down. Game
Speaker 1: officiated and oversaw this game between Boise State and in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: It was You're right, You're absolutely right that it was
Speaker 1: a modern production. Good replays, good slow motion, good angles,
Speaker 1: good audio, good good audio, mixed crowd and broadcasters. You're
Speaker 1: right about Tom Brenneman balancing out the excitable three man
Speaker 1: booth with him, Charles Davis and Barry Alvarez, almost like
Speaker 1: the glass of cold milk when you're really attacking some
Speaker 1: spicy buffalo.
Speaker 2: And you know, I felt, I really truly felt, and
Speaker 2: I didn't even remember who was calling this game when
Speaker 2: I went back to watch. Right when I heard Tom Brenneman,
Speaker 2: I was like, oh wow, I like, I have nothing
Speaker 2: against Tom Brenneman.
Speaker 1: But now he did it. I thought he did it.
Speaker 1: Other than the very end, which we can get to,
Speaker 1: I thought he did a reasonably good job. And by
Speaker 1: the way, this is New Year's Day two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: when we really had the good It was nice to
Speaker 1: have New Year's Day games, the huge New Year's Day games.
Speaker 1: Do you remember where you were watching this game? I
Speaker 1: think I was at home with Mammy h watching this game. Okay,
Speaker 1: now was this the same night as the Sugar Bowl,
Speaker 1: the JaMarcus Russ pulling down the Notre Dame pants game.
Speaker 2: I believe it was because they actually referenced it on
Speaker 2: the broadcast. Tom Brennanan Tom Brennanman got in a little
Speaker 2: quip about Notre Dame losing eight straight Bowl games or
Speaker 2: whatever it is. Thanks Tom, Yeah, yeah, thank you Tom.
Speaker 2: But what I was gonna say is, when I found
Speaker 2: out that Brennanman was paired up with Barry Alvarez, A
Speaker 2: Charles Davis made perfect sense. I actually thought Fox did
Speaker 2: a really good job pairing those three together.
Speaker 1: It worked out.
Speaker 2: The game itself will go down in history as one
Speaker 2: of the all time greats. I know we say that
Speaker 2: each week we do one of these episodes. Hopefully by
Speaker 2: now it's clear we're trying to focus on some of
Speaker 2: the great games. That's why they all fit the bill. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Boyse opens up a quick fourteen to nil lead. Oklahoma
Speaker 2: comes back eventually about midway through the third quarter. It's
Speaker 2: sort of looking like this thing is over. Boyse jumps
Speaker 2: out to a twenty eight to ten lead. To that point,
Speaker 2: they had been much much better as a team. They
Speaker 2: had been much more responsible with the football, and it
Speaker 2: seemed like this was very certainly going to go in
Speaker 2: their direction just quickly.
Speaker 1: My first half thoughts are because I've criticized a lot
Speaker 1: of the offense and like it seems old fashioned and
Speaker 1: overly conservative watching these old games, the old quote unquote
Speaker 1: old games. I understand it's all relative, but Boise State's
Speaker 1: offense is an absolute joy. The shifts, the motion, the creativity,
Speaker 1: the ability to get the most out of not hugely
Speaker 1: top level talent, and I think by the end of
Speaker 1: Chris Peterson's time, especially during the Kellen Moore era, the
Speaker 1: talent was at a much higher level. He really built
Speaker 1: that program impressively. But for them to move the ball
Speaker 1: forward to get a terrific underthrown long ball touchdown early on,
Speaker 1: which I think was eventually matched by Paul Thompson's own
Speaker 1: underthrown deep ball for a touchdown for Oklahoma, I thought,
Speaker 1: especially early on, Boise came out with an incredible game plan.
Speaker 1: Oklahoma looks stunned going down as they did. I think
Speaker 1: Boise had a short field after a fumble so that
Speaker 1: it was an easy punch in from I think under
Speaker 1: ten yards and then Boise punts three straight drives. Paul
Speaker 1: Thompson throws his first interception of the day, which was
Speaker 1: not great. Boyse's unable to turn that into anything. A
Speaker 1: couple more punts, Boise drives down the field. I think
Speaker 1: it's a sixty plus yard drive and they get up
Speaker 1: twenty one to ten. Another Paul Thompson interception, Oh, awful interception,
Speaker 1: and then another backbreaking or so it seems, pick six.
Speaker 1: Like at this point Paul Thompson has thrown three interceptions.
Speaker 1: This is I think in the third quarter. At some
Speaker 1: point it's deeper into the third quarter. Paul Thompson, his
Speaker 1: each interception is worse than the last.
Speaker 2: Oh, man, that's I have. I actually have that exact
Speaker 2: Oh good for a bitch down on my crib sheet
Speaker 2: because he was so truly bad. Remember we talked about
Speaker 2: Ken Dorsey and his second quarter. Yes, Paul Thompson's third
Speaker 2: quarter was a bit of a sight to behold because
Speaker 2: it really felt like he didn't do anything right and
Speaker 2: even the passes he completed were by accident.
Speaker 1: It seemed that he had he was jittery, he didn't
Speaker 1: trust his eyes at all for the majority of this game,
Speaker 1: and it really hurt Oklahoma. I don't fully think. And
Speaker 1: this was weird to behold because they had the Kevins,
Speaker 1: Someone and Smith running the Oklahoma offense, which these two
Speaker 1: eventually become modern legends in terms of opening up offenses
Speaker 1: and generating a ton of yards and a ton of points.
Speaker 1: But for whatever reason, Paul Thompson's either his understanding of
Speaker 1: the offense or just his nerves in the game, the
Speaker 1: offense didn't seem constructed for his ability and strengths because
Speaker 1: he didn't make plays. He was a wide receiver of
Speaker 1: the previous year, right, So take that for what it's worth.
Speaker 1: Every pass was thrown with what I would say was
Speaker 1: maximum force, with the exception of a couple fades that
Speaker 1: they tried down near the goal line, there really wasn't
Speaker 1: any touch on these passes. Barry Alvarez referred to Paul
Speaker 1: Thompson as a street thrower, which I have no idea.
Speaker 2: That's uncomponent what that means, but very uncomfortable. I spent
Speaker 2: a good deal of my rewatch trying to figure out
Speaker 2: what the hell he meant. But I kept asking the
Speaker 2: question like you had Adrian Peterson, and I know he
Speaker 2: got hurt. He was out for a good chunk of
Speaker 2: the Year. But in this game, we saw Paul Thompson
Speaker 2: use his legs. He was a runner, he's a big kid,
Speaker 2: he played receiver. Sure, if they had simply run some
Speaker 2: variation of a read option with Paul Thompson and Adrian Peterson,
Speaker 2: would they not have been better off in this football game?
Speaker 1: Yes? And no. I mean I think maybe it's in
Speaker 1: the NFL where Adrian Peterson has been insistent that he
Speaker 1: wants to run from under center. He wants that downhill
Speaker 1: element to him, So maybe he wouldn't have wouldn't have
Speaker 1: been at as dominant without running a sort of eye system.
Speaker 1: So it sort of forced them to run two different
Speaker 1: offenses at once. And Adrian Peterson, even though he did
Speaker 1: make plays in this game, wasn't a huge consistent factor.
Speaker 1: He didn't have a seventy three yard run, he didn't
Speaker 1: average eight point nine yards per carry in this game.
Speaker 1: He did not dominate Boise State. The Broncos very wisely
Speaker 1: made Paul Thompson beat them, or tried to make Paul,
Speaker 1: or at least they said, if we're going to lose,
Speaker 1: it'll be at the hands of Paul Thompson, not Adrian Peterson.
Speaker 1: So Yes, in theory Adrian Peterson and Paul Thompson in
Speaker 1: the backfield with a sort of RPO more modern read
Speaker 1: option type offense would have been beneficial. I just maybe
Speaker 1: it was a little ahead of Oklahoma's time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Paul Thompson thing, Dan, it was tough to watch,
Speaker 2: especially when you see a young Sam Bradford just roaming
Speaker 2: by on the sidelines. I know he wasn't a highly
Speaker 2: touted recruit, but he would go on to in the
Speaker 2: starting job for the two thousand and seven season and
Speaker 2: then obviously the Heisman Trophy in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 2: So his career, both in college and on the pro
Speaker 2: level to some extent, worked out pretty well. I just
Speaker 2: I kept coming back to like, if anybody else were
Speaker 2: that Oklahoma quarterback, I feel like they would have been
Speaker 2: good enough to win this game. Paul Thompson just gave
Speaker 2: them nothing. Nothing out there, especially in the third quarter.
Speaker 2: The second interception he threw in the third quarter was tipped.
Speaker 2: It wasn't entirely his fault, but there was one like
Speaker 2: the first one he threw where it was a jump
Speaker 2: ball across his body into quadruple coverage, like thirty yards
Speaker 2: down the field.
Speaker 1: It was an arm punt.
Speaker 2: It was essentially an arm punt, trusting his arm strength
Speaker 2: a little too much, very poor decision making. If anybody
Speaker 2: else had been quarterback for Oklahoma, I feel like it
Speaker 2: would have been a different outcome. And I say that
Speaker 2: not to detract at all from what Boise State did,
Speaker 2: because Boise State sure gave away the lead, But what
Speaker 2: they did in that final minute and a half of regulation,
Speaker 2: what they did in their first series in overtime, will
Speaker 2: go down in college football lore as like maybe the
Speaker 2: greatest two drives in the history of the game.
Speaker 1: Does Kevin Cobb win this game for Oklahoma? Probably? Kevin
Speaker 1: Cobb had a good year that year for Houston. He did,
Speaker 1: he did, I mean not terribly far away for Houston, right.
Speaker 2: No, So, okay, we moved to the third quarter. We
Speaker 2: talked a little bit about the third quarter. But Boise
Speaker 2: eventually works their way up to a twenty eight to
Speaker 2: ten lead on.
Speaker 1: An egregious pick six that Paul Thompson throws just directly
Speaker 1: to a Boise defender who jogs in. But when Boise
Speaker 1: gets the ball back, they punt it. It hits a
Speaker 1: Boise player in the back of the leg.
Speaker 2: Yes, Oklahoma gets the ball deep in Boise territory, apl
Speaker 2: Day runs in twenty eight to seventeen. Then as we
Speaker 2: turned to the fourth quarter, we had a field goal
Speaker 2: by Garrett Hartley went on to an NFL career twenty
Speaker 2: eight to twenty. We have a touchdown pass from Paul
Speaker 2: Thompson to Quentin Cheney with about a minute and twenty
Speaker 2: six left, they get the two point conversion. It's a
Speaker 2: tip pass, but Joaquina Glacias hauls that in to tie
Speaker 2: it up at twenty eight all. And then as Boise
Speaker 2: State gets the ball back on the ensuing drive after
Speaker 2: the kickoff, Jared Zabranski big Z is intercepted by Marcus
Speaker 2: Walker from Oklahoma, who runs at thirty four yards for
Speaker 2: a pick six. In the blink of an eye, Oklahoma
Speaker 2: is now up by seven points, by a thirty five
Speaker 2: to twenty eight score, and that is where Daniel in
Speaker 2: the final minute of this game, things really went pretty haywired,
Speaker 2: didn't they.
Speaker 1: I will yeah, I'll add a couple of things. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we have the Boise fumble that leads to Oklahoma driving
Speaker 1: the field and scoring. Boise dropped that what would have
Speaker 1: been a game ending pick in the m zone that
Speaker 1: ended up tipping and that gets caught to come within
Speaker 1: two before the conversion. A great conversion, by the way, really,
Speaker 1: I mean it was I'm sure the highlight of Paul
Speaker 1: Thompson's game, if not career, just scrambling around and throwing
Speaker 1: it successfully away from his body. Jared Zebranski with what
Speaker 1: they have two timeouts and like a minute and a
Speaker 1: half left he throws It was like a hold my beer,
Speaker 1: pick six. It was so bad, and Oklahoma runs that
Speaker 1: in to take the lead. The drive for Boise. I'm
Speaker 1: more impressed with what Boise was able to do, but
Speaker 1: what Oklahoma decided to defend Boise with, which was three
Speaker 1: man rushes playing way way off soft prevent coverages. This
Speaker 1: is a Brent Venables defense. This is not some name
Speaker 1: that we don't remember all these years later. This is
Speaker 1: a big, big deal defensive coordinator. Maybe he wasn't back then,
Speaker 1: maybe this was sort of early on for him, but
Speaker 1: the strategy that they took and they did pretty well.
Speaker 1: Boise gets to midfield, but they get after Jared Zebranski
Speaker 1: pretty well, and it sets up a fourth and eighteen tie.
Speaker 1: And if there's one enemy of of I guess pressure, right.
Speaker 1: It's the idea of giving a team when their backs
Speaker 1: are against the wall. I call it the continuum tie
Speaker 1: time in space. They rush three, they play off the receivers,
Speaker 1: and this to me was maybe the play. I mean,
Speaker 1: we have the crazy Alabama Georgia ending from a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago, but in terms of the creativity, the
Speaker 1: stones of the moment and the execution, I can't imagine
Speaker 1: a more beautiful college football moment than the hook and
Speaker 1: ladder Boise State pulls off. In this moment.
Speaker 2: You could live five hundred years and never see a
Speaker 2: trick play work that well.
Speaker 1: Everything about it was perfect.
Speaker 2: Thing about that play was beautiful and perfect, even the
Speaker 2: receiver taking a few extra steps with the ball to
Speaker 2: really really sell it. You know, he sold it, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean he just like they just had the whole
Speaker 2: thing engineered in some sort of football laboratory to be
Speaker 2: absolutely perfect. So they run the hook and ladder. Right,
Speaker 2: the pass is completed, it's a score. It's lateraled back.
Speaker 2: It goes for a thirty five yard touchdown with seven
Speaker 2: seconds left to make it thirty five thirty five. Now,
Speaker 2: obviously you're watching it a home. This is an incredible moment.
Speaker 2: I don't know where I was, but I remember going crazy,
Speaker 2: standing up out of my chair, like I cannot believe
Speaker 2: what I just saw here. Trick plays like that are
Speaker 2: once in a generation, rarely if every do you see
Speaker 2: one work? Do you see one worked that well? But
Speaker 2: what we didn't know at the time is we're watching
Speaker 2: this in real time, is that Chris Peterson is just
Speaker 2: gonna empty the frigging clip like every trick play, every
Speaker 2: every misdirection play he's got in the playbook on the
Speaker 2: armband he is. He just decides in that moment he
Speaker 2: is gonna show off his stones. And that's what we
Speaker 2: saw as we go into overtime.
Speaker 1: Dan, Yes, it one hundred percent is the confidence from
Speaker 1: Chris Peterson. Even you said when you watched the pregame
Speaker 1: when they were sort of talking about the David Versus
Speaker 1: Goliath narrative, you said that was just like a glow
Speaker 1: about Chris. Oh yeah, that he's just like, we're just
Speaker 1: gonna have fun. We're just gonna mess around and do whatever.
Speaker 1: We don't care, like what do we have to lose.
Speaker 1: There's no pressure on us.
Speaker 2: He ran like five trick plays on two possessions overtime starts.
Speaker 2: First play, Adrian Peterson just bulls through everyone scores twenty
Speaker 2: five yard touchdown run. Garrett Hartley makes the kick forty
Speaker 2: two to thirty five, So then Boise gets the ball back.
Speaker 2: They have to score, and this is again where Chris
Speaker 2: Peterson just decides, you know what, efitt, We're gonna run
Speaker 2: every trick, every misdirection play we've got in the playbook.
Speaker 2: Eventually they end up scoring on a six yard pass
Speaker 2: from Vinnie Peretta to Derek Schuman, a tight end. By
Speaker 2: the way, he wore number ninety one, which I don't
Speaker 2: know if I've ever seen before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love a good, like weird position group number.
Speaker 1: Didn't Evan Weaver wear like eighty seven for Yal as
Speaker 1: a linebacker? I love a good weird number number ninety one.
Speaker 1: Derek Schuman catches the touchdown. What does Chris Peterson decide
Speaker 1: to do? He's going for the win. He's going for two.
Speaker 1: A fit going for two.
Speaker 2: That, of course, is when they take the bubble wrap
Speaker 2: off a statue of liberty play. Ian Johnson runs in
Speaker 2: from three yards away to give the Boise State Broncos
Speaker 2: a huge forty three to forty two upset victory in
Speaker 2: the Fiesta Bowl. David has a Fish knocked out Goliath,
Speaker 2: and at least for that moment in college football, unless
Speaker 2: if you were an Oklahoma fan, all was right in
Speaker 2: the world.
Speaker 1: Yes, that was okay. So what is it? Vinnie Peretta
Speaker 1: Is his name? Vinnie Peretta. Yeah, So he's sort of
Speaker 1: an all purpose receive a running back and he every
Speaker 1: time it seemed that he ended up in the backfield
Speaker 1: and not Ian Johnson, who had a very nice game.
Speaker 1: And we'll get to Ian Johnson momentarily. We haven't mentioned
Speaker 1: his name, but every time Vinnie Peretta ended up in
Speaker 1: a formation near the quarterback, it seemed like Boise State
Speaker 1: was at least attempting a trick play. There was like
Speaker 1: a throwback and nothing was there, and he just sort
Speaker 1: of ran. And there was another instance where it looked
Speaker 1: like they were trying to set something up, and Vinnie
Speaker 1: Peretta appears next to Jared Zebranski, not their all conference
Speaker 1: running back Ian Johnson, who had really other than the
Speaker 1: fumble helped to pace Boise State's effort that night, and
Speaker 1: to Oklahoma's credit, was it Derek Schuman number ninety one
Speaker 1: tight end Derek Schuman. Yep, he's covered by a linebacker
Speaker 1: on the play. It's not like he leaks out without
Speaker 1: anybody noticed. In the defense, he's accounted for. Vinny Paretta
Speaker 1: just throws a good pack. Yeah, he throws a really
Speaker 1: nice past six yards for the time to get within one.
Speaker 1: Does Oklahoma win if any Peretta is their quarterback? That's
Speaker 1: so mean, I'm serious. The answer is yes, No, they
Speaker 1: don't win with any Peretta. No, absolutely not. Can we
Speaker 1: please talk about the Statue of Liberty real quick? Oh
Speaker 1: we have to, don't we another iconic play? So the Statue
Speaker 1: of Liberty sees boyse lineup Jared Zabranski next to Ian Johnson,
Speaker 1: which is totally normal in the shotgun formation, and oh no,
Speaker 1: he's under center, I believe, and they go trips right. Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: trying to take every precaution, moves four dudes in the
Speaker 1: area of three receivers, and suddenly, ty, I mean, I
Speaker 1: went to a state school, but my math tells me
Speaker 1: we've got a bit of a mismatch on the line
Speaker 1: of side. I think that's accurate. Yeah, that's accurate. It's
Speaker 1: then it's essentially because there's one guy sort of in
Speaker 1: the slot for Oklahoma. We have six guys on the line,
Speaker 1: so I think it's five linemen and a tight end
Speaker 1: for Boise State. Six guys in there blocking with six
Speaker 1: guys in the box for Oklahoma. So we have a
Speaker 1: hat on a hat no matter what. So if Jared
Speaker 1: Lebronski just hands it to Ian Johnson, there's a good
Speaker 1: shot he's picking up two yards in this scenario, there's
Speaker 1: he's a good running back with a pretty good offensive line.
Speaker 1: He just run behind Ryan Clady and you're there. What
Speaker 1: happens is, as we all know the statue of Liberty,
Speaker 1: Jared Leebranski fakes the screen horizontally to a receiver who
Speaker 1: sells obviously a great job coaching. Chris Peterson, former wide
Speaker 1: receiver coach, sells the fake pass and he puts it
Speaker 1: around his back and Ian Johnson takes it in untouched
Speaker 1: with a great seal on the edge it would think
Speaker 1: it was Ryan Clady and ends up blocking two guys, yeah,
Speaker 1: to help seal that edge. As Oklahoma starts running the
Speaker 1: wrong way, which is to be expected on a statue
Speaker 1: of liberty, and Ian Johnson runs it in untouched, launches
Speaker 1: the ball into a sea of blue and orange.
Speaker 2: So, for those of you playing the home game wondering,
Speaker 2: what's a statue of liberty, statue of Liberty was a
Speaker 2: fake pass. Jared Zabranski sort of pulls the ball down,
Speaker 2: puts it behind his back. Ian Johnson grabs it, runs
Speaker 2: it for a touchdown. My problem with this play was
Speaker 2: I didn't feel like Ian Johnson sold it. Can we
Speaker 2: watch it like he's sort of standing there like casual
Speaker 2: address James Franklin in the backfield. Now it worked, it
Speaker 2: worked great, true, but he just didn't sell it the
Speaker 2: way I would have expected for a successful trick play,
Speaker 2: certainly one of that magnitude.
Speaker 1: So to take a step in terms of I'm going
Speaker 1: I'm in here for pass. Yeah, yeah, I just I
Speaker 1: guess I expected more in that. Of course, I'm splitting
Speaker 1: hairs here. It's ridiculous. But on the watch back, it
Speaker 1: didn't seem like he sold it.
Speaker 2: It did feel like something was a little bit off
Speaker 2: from the comfort of my couch, But it worked.
Speaker 1: Right, It worked forty three. It definitely worked to forty two.
Speaker 2: A great play, a great sequence for Boise State, a
Speaker 2: great win as they finished the year thirteen to zero again,
Speaker 2: the only undefeated team that year in all of college football.
Speaker 2: A great story. Pandemonium ensues, right, We've got all sorts
Speaker 2: of stuff going on. We've got Chris Myers out there,
Speaker 2: try and interview some of these folks. I think he
Speaker 2: talks to Jared's a branski z Man's all fired up,
Speaker 2: all fired up, throw it around the horn, get some
Speaker 2: commentary on what just transpired. Everyone is still catching their breath.
Speaker 2: And then we go down to Chris Myers for what
Speaker 2: I think will also go down in college football lore
Speaker 2: as one of those weird, iconic moments that could only
Speaker 2: happen in this sport. Chris Myers is on the sidelines
Speaker 2: interviewing Ian Johnson. Ian Johnson the star running back for
Speaker 2: Boise that year. He led the nation in rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 2: He had a really good year, went on, didn't really
Speaker 2: do much in the NFL, had a cup of coffee,
Speaker 2: but had a great year for the Boise State Broncos.
Speaker 2: Ian Johnson's on the sidelines. He's got his girlfriend in
Speaker 2: his arm. She's a cheerleader. Just a really happy story.
Speaker 2: Chris Myers does this really thoughtful interview with Ian Johnson,
Speaker 2: who's overcome.
Speaker 1: And he's very diplomatic, because Myers and everybody on the field,
Speaker 1: they're being asked, these Boise players, do they deserve a
Speaker 1: shot at Florida or Ohio State, And they're all very
Speaker 1: diplomatic or they're confident. It's good, it's good TV. It's
Speaker 1: all American college football. It's all American college football. Zabranski said, yeah,
Speaker 1: we deserve a chance. Ian Johnson was he didn't want
Speaker 1: to wade into territory. So we got our bowl game, right,
Speaker 1: we got our win, we proved all we could prove.
Speaker 1: We're happy to be here. Right.
Speaker 2: Then, at the conclusion of the interview, and I had
Speaker 2: to watch this like eight times to fully comprehend it.
Speaker 1: Chris Myers, it's wild.
Speaker 2: And otherwise fantastic journalist and sideline reporter and commentator for
Speaker 2: many many years, dating all the way back to his
Speaker 2: time at ESPN, sort of passively dismissively concludes the interview
Speaker 2: by saying, Okay, I know now you want to propose
Speaker 2: to your girlfriend, so go ahead. And his girlf ultimate
Speaker 2: ce Block, Yeah, his girlfriend. Ian Johnson's girlfriend had no
Speaker 2: idea that this was coming, none whatsoever. Dan, All right,
Speaker 2: I know you're gonna propose to your girlfriend, congratulations verbatim.
Speaker 2: Her face changes is she takes on this look of
Speaker 2: complete surprise. Ian Johnson stumbles a little bit, because who
Speaker 2: the hell wouldn't stumble trying to propose amid all that craziness,
Speaker 2: Not to mention, this boob just spilled the beans on
Speaker 2: your surprise plan. He pops to his knee offers a
Speaker 2: marriage proposal. She of course says, yes, they're still married today.
Speaker 1: Are you telling me Chris Myers did not tee you
Speaker 1: up for you proposing to the solid wife Kate. I
Speaker 1: think that's what I'm saying. Yeah, So what I think
Speaker 1: happened is somebody told Chris Myers that he was going
Speaker 1: to do this, and I think Chris Myers took that
Speaker 1: as sort of a lighthearted thing. What Chris Myers says is, so, now,
Speaker 1: what are you gonna do? You're gonna propose to your girlfriend? Right,
Speaker 1: And when he when Ian Johnson gets down on one knee,
Speaker 1: Chris Meyer says, oh, he's actually doing or something along
Speaker 1: those lines. And so I don't know if Chris Myers
Speaker 1: got a tip off that he thought was a joke.
Speaker 1: I think maybe he got a tip off and the
Speaker 1: intent was to have him say, and I understand you
Speaker 1: have a question you want to ask, like to tee
Speaker 1: him up in a more responsible, respectful way, right, Don't
Speaker 1: you think I don't mean to call Chris Myers a booth?
Speaker 2: That wasn't nice, But this was this was this was
Speaker 2: not his finest broadcast moment spilling the beans. I'm sure
Speaker 2: he would say it, but to your point, it did
Speaker 2: not sound as if he took it seriously because there
Speaker 2: was a little quip like, oh wait, you're actually doing it. Okay,
Speaker 2: of course he did actually do it, and a fun
Speaker 2: story that goes along with this game forevermore. What are
Speaker 2: your other thoughts on this game now that we've walked
Speaker 2: through the whole thing? A good coach game. I know
Speaker 2: you mentioned Brent Venables for Oklahoma, but yes, a bunch
Speaker 2: of other big name guys that took part in this game.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, Brian Harson is the offensive coordinator for Boise State,
Speaker 1: though Chris Peterson is calling the offense justin Wilcox is
Speaker 1: calling the defense a good defense that you was opportunistic
Speaker 1: and tackled really well. This was not a highly talented,
Speaker 1: a highly deep defense, but they played crazy hard and
Speaker 1: they played very well. Corey Hall led things in the
Speaker 1: middle for Boise stated a really nice linebacker for them.
Speaker 1: A few other things that jumped out to me beyond
Speaker 1: the coaches in this game. I think what mars Cel
Speaker 1: Yates was in the secondary, I believe for for Boise State.
Speaker 1: He goes on to be a coordinator a couple places,
Speaker 1: one even just running out onto the field. Boise has
Speaker 1: some literally whack uniforms. This is still a time in
Speaker 1: which I don't even remember if it was Nike or Adidas,
Speaker 1: where even a high level top ten, top twenty five,
Speaker 1: top forty. I know they're not considered a group of
Speaker 1: five at this point, but it's a whack school. Their
Speaker 1: uniforms are three rungs below the nicer uniforms of college football.
Speaker 1: It's a very It's an East Bay look for Boise State,
Speaker 1: and that sucks. They eventually did a lot better. I'm
Speaker 1: sorry they were on a stage that big. They should
Speaker 1: have had new uniforms for the Fiesta Bowl, and they
Speaker 1: deserved better. I don't know, Sorry, whatever it was, Nike, Adidas,
Speaker 1: whoever number two you mentioned the coaches, I thought back
Speaker 1: at this game only like as I mentioned, only remembering
Speaker 1: the end the fireworks at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: I knew that it was sort of back and forth
Speaker 1: to some extent, and Jared Zebranski made plays, and I
Speaker 1: remember Adrian Peterson was in the game, and I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, Malcolm Kelly and Joachina Glessias. I remember all
Speaker 1: of these names. My assumption was it was back and forth.
Speaker 1: Boise pulls it out at the end watching back, Boise
Speaker 1: wants credit for fixing a roof it destroyed, and that
Speaker 1: colors things a little bit differently for me. When you're
Speaker 1: up twenty eight to ten with the ball with five
Speaker 1: minutes left from the third quarter, and you turn the
Speaker 1: ball over a couple of times, backbreaking interceptions, fumbles, you
Speaker 1: stall out on offense a ton against a defense that's good. Again,
Speaker 1: I mentioned Rufus, Alexander. I think you finished with seventeen
Speaker 1: tackles in this game. May have been the best player
Speaker 1: in this game, ye, I mean the best presence. The
Speaker 1: best person in this game is Chris Peterson. I think
Speaker 1: we can probably agree on that. Sure, But the fact
Speaker 1: that Boise State is up three possessions, if my math
Speaker 1: is correct, with the ball deep into the game and
Speaker 1: need to reach into the ultimate quiver to pull out
Speaker 1: trick arrows, to pull out a game with that sort
Speaker 1: of lead. It doesn't change how fun and exciting and
Speaker 1: entertaining the end was, but it colors a picture more
Speaker 1: fully that I didn't fully remember. And so it was
Speaker 1: great at the end, but damn, Boise State almost choked
Speaker 1: away this incredible opportunity to make a national statement and
Speaker 1: needed magic to save it.
Speaker 2: Do you think that by virtue of blowing that lead
Speaker 2: and in a weird way, creating these moments, that it
Speaker 2: has made Boise State a better football program?
Speaker 1: Oh, there's no question. I'm just looking back and saying
Speaker 1: the complete picture is boise almost choked away this golden
Speaker 1: opportunity to be you know, David to Oklahoma's quote unquote Goliath.
Speaker 1: This was still it wasn't an amazing Oklahoma team, was
Speaker 1: a good Oklahoma team, but it just colors things a
Speaker 1: little bit differently for me. Now, these are these are
Speaker 1: immortal moments. So I'm glad on a certain level, on
Speaker 1: an entertainment level, that Boise State chokes away this lead
Speaker 1: and they didn't have the depth to really step on
Speaker 1: the gas for four quarters the entire time. Maybe they
Speaker 1: eventually do. When you look at what you know, the
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore era had in store for Boise State. But
Speaker 1: it definitely it jogs back memories that I didn't even remember,
Speaker 1: and so that that changes things a little bit for me,
Speaker 1: that they need this magic to pull out the not choke.
Speaker 1: And that's all it is for me. That it just
Speaker 1: it's a little less impressive from a football standpoint. It
Speaker 1: loses nothing from an entertainment standpoint.
Speaker 2: The other thing that stood out to me they Oklahoma
Speaker 2: Sooners playing football since eighteen ninety five. This is a
Speaker 2: program that's you know, been around a while. They've had
Speaker 2: a ton of success. Boise State at that point was
Speaker 2: what ten years into to their Division One status.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, Big Sky to Big West. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I understand the structure of college football painting this
Speaker 2: game as a David versus Goliath moment for sure. So
Speaker 2: only a seven and a half points spread, Yeah, seven
Speaker 2: and a half points happens every week on games that
Speaker 2: we preview, and in virtually all of those cases we
Speaker 2: are not talking about a David versus Goliath moment. So
Speaker 2: there was a little bit of marketing, a little bit
Speaker 2: of packaging that I think made this game a little
Speaker 2: bit more exciting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when Boise State had pretty much handled everybody impressively.
Speaker 1: It was close against Wyoming. They blow out Oregon State,
Speaker 1: a Pac ten team. They have a close call against
Speaker 1: San Jose State on the road. I think they win
Speaker 1: by a field goal. You look at the network these
Speaker 1: games around, it's local Boise television only. There is no
Speaker 1: national presence outside of they have ESPN two for Fresno.
Speaker 1: They have you remember versus oh Man. Wow? Oh, they
Speaker 1: have Versus for the Utah game. They the Oregon State
Speaker 1: game was on ESPN. But there's a lot of KTVB
Speaker 1: broadcasts thrown into this Boise schedule. Channel seven, NBC affiliate
Speaker 1: in Boise, Idaho, shout out to the Treasure Valley. So
Speaker 1: that stood out to me too. That Boise and even
Speaker 1: if you look at their previous years, their bowl games
Speaker 1: that they played in and seven and a half felt
Speaker 1: about right, even with a thirteen to oher record. The
Speaker 1: year before that, they lose in the MPC Computers Bowl
Speaker 1: to Boston College. They lose to Louisville and the Liberty Bowl,
Speaker 1: which is essentially a virtual home game for Louisville. I
Speaker 1: mean it's very close. The Fort Worth Bowl, they beat
Speaker 1: TCU the year before that and the Humanitarian Bowl, which
Speaker 1: is local. They beat Iowa State the year before that,
Speaker 1: so in terms of stages, I would not have been
Speaker 1: surprised if it was ten thirteen points spread. If Vinnie
Speaker 1: Peretta was.
Speaker 2: Playing, I guess yeah, yeah, yeah, incredible. Boise State wins again.
Speaker 2: They finished the year is the only undefeated team. Obviously,
Speaker 2: the program has gone to great heights ever since then.
Speaker 2: But this was a seminal moment, not just in the
Speaker 2: history of the Boise State program, but really in the
Speaker 2: history of postseason college football, certainly BCS era college football.
Speaker 2: Let me ask the question that I've been asking about
Speaker 2: all of these games, and there are a number of
Speaker 2: different ways that I think you could answer this one.
Speaker 2: Who was the best player slash presence on the field.
Speaker 2: Is it Chris Peterson?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's one hundred percent Chris Peterson. There are
Speaker 1: guys who made plays here and there. Adrian Peterson is
Speaker 1: the clear best player big picture, but in a vacuum
Speaker 1: on the field that night, Yeah, I mean Zabranski took
Speaker 1: too much off the table for everything he put onto it.
Speaker 1: Paul Thompson made plays at times, but took way too
Speaker 1: much off as well. I think it's Peterson, especially with
Speaker 1: how well Boise State comes out of the shoot to
Speaker 1: start the game that you know, whether it's scripting ten
Speaker 1: to fifteen plays, they came out so impressively. They started
Speaker 1: and finished this game with so much poise and a poise,
Speaker 1: poissy poise and a plan that it's it's Peterson's shining
Speaker 1: moment to this day.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this about Chris Peterson. If he's
Speaker 2: subbed in for Paul Thompson, does Oklahoma win emails solid well.
Speaker 1: I want to make something else clear. Yeah, go ahead, Yes,
Speaker 1: I want to make something else abundantly clear. If for
Speaker 1: some reason, this were in the playoff era and say
Speaker 1: Boise State, it was like a two to three matchup
Speaker 1: between Oklahoma and Boise State and it was a one
Speaker 1: to four. I know it wasn't between Ohio State and Florida,
Speaker 1: and Boise State ends up in the championship game against
Speaker 1: we'll say Florida because they handled Ohio State. We know
Speaker 1: that Boise State, the Broncos would have been so mo
Speaker 1: by the Gators. They would have been I want, absolutely
Speaker 1: I roll the Boise State story. I love the idea
Speaker 1: of saying let them decided on the field, Let them
Speaker 1: get a shot. Suh moked.
Speaker 2: That was a good Florida team, A really good Florida team.
Speaker 2: It was really good, really good Florida team. This is
Speaker 2: the kind of game that, gosh, if it were a playoff,
Speaker 2: setting takes a little bit of the wind out of
Speaker 2: your sales, doesn't it.
Speaker 1: I don't care who you are, what would you set
Speaker 1: the line at? Oh, gosh, for Florida Boise? Knowing what
Speaker 1: we know about those two programs at their absolute best
Speaker 1: fourteen fourteen and a half, I think, yeah, at least
Speaker 1: you're I think you're well into double digits.
Speaker 2: It would it would have come down at game time too,
Speaker 2: because Boyse would have been a very strong public play.
Speaker 2: People would have wanted to bet Boyse even if they
Speaker 2: didn't truly believe they could cover suh moked.
Speaker 1: All right, okay, well I will can I can I
Speaker 1: add a couple of more items of context as I
Speaker 1: like to do. Please, Which of these ten songs which
Speaker 1: were number one that well here we go would you
Speaker 1: most would you most like to listen to? I don't
Speaker 1: remember the music that was involved in this game. I
Speaker 1: don't think there was a clear pop song intro, but
Speaker 1: maybe I'm wrong, lips of an angel from Hinder, Oh Boy,
Speaker 1: Shorty like Mine from Bow Wow, We Fly High, Jim Jones,
Speaker 1: How to Save a Life from the fray, Jesus say
Speaker 1: it right, Nellie Fertado, My love justin Timberlake, smack that
Speaker 1: Acon fer Delicious. I don't need to tell you the
Speaker 1: artist there, right, I want to love you also Acon
Speaker 1: and irreplaceable Beyonce. Akon had a year that year. Akon
Speaker 1: had a hell of a year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Akon had a year. I guess I go Timberlake.
Speaker 2: But a couple options there.
Speaker 1: And on the uh in the box office tie, which
Speaker 1: of these are you most likely? I'm assuming you just
Speaker 1: anything Acon You're most likely to put on?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Sure? Box office college football related movie number ten, We
Speaker 1: Are Marshall.
Speaker 2: I wrote a review of that movie at the time,
Speaker 2: I was writing for Fox Sports, and I tore it
Speaker 2: to shreds oh.
Speaker 1: Tore it to shreds all right, all right out.
Speaker 2: And I had every Marshall fan in the universe sending
Speaker 2: me angry emails.
Speaker 1: A thundering herd of angry Marshall fans. Rocky Balboa, The
Speaker 1: Good Shepherd, Charlotte's Web, Happily Never After, Dream Girls, Freedom Writers,
Speaker 1: Children of Men, which I haven't seen and I've heard
Speaker 1: is incredible. I don't know if you've seen Children No Men,
Speaker 1: The Pursuit of Happiness and Number One Night at the Museum.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Holy, I would see Children of Men ahead
Speaker 1: of the rest of that that spread. Ah, wasn't Dreamgirls
Speaker 1: with Jennifer Heibowen for sure. I've never seen that one either,
Speaker 1: Beyonce Eddie Murphy. Ah man, I have no idea.
Speaker 2: That's not a good nothing there is really jumping out
Speaker 2: at me.
Speaker 1: I've also got code named The Cleaner starring Cedric the Entertainer,
Speaker 1: finishing just outside of the top ten. So that is
Speaker 1: two thousand and one and should also mention the MTV
Speaker 1: New Year's Eve special the night before was co hosted
Speaker 1: by Chamillionaire and Laguna Beach's own Steven Yes, tying it
Speaker 1: all that to the solid verbal Stephen Coletti's ex girlfriend
Speaker 1: has a car that blows up on the side of
Speaker 1: the road, starts smoking, and what does she say? Toy Zo, Donezo,
Speaker 1: done zo. All right, well we are donezo, shout out
Speaker 1: christ and Cavalieri. With this show, our rewatch our reliving
Speaker 1: our making peace with the two thousand and seven Tostitos
Speaker 1: Fiesta Bowl. Congratulations all these years later to Boise State
Speaker 1: Broncos on an incredible forty three to forty two win.
Speaker 1: We hope everyone out there is staying safe. Obviously these
Speaker 1: are very uncertain times. We do appreciate your time here
Speaker 1: with us as we talk about some great games from
Speaker 1: college football's past. I have really enjoyed doing this. Not
Speaker 1: only have I enjoyed doing this, one of my favorite
Speaker 1: parts of this is the PostScript. You mentioned a couple
Speaker 1: of things about where guys have gone on to play US.
Speaker 1: Eddian Johnson had a cup of coffee in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Who do you think wins the PostScript? Of all of
Speaker 1: these big personalities. We have head coaches Rustin Wilcox is
Speaker 1: at cal We have Brent Venables as a legendary defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator now at Clemson. We have all these guys who
Speaker 1: have gone on you know mentioned Orlando Scandric and Kyle
Speaker 1: Wilson as NFL players, and Chris Peterson now recently retiring
Speaker 1: after moving on to Washington. What is the most fascinating
Speaker 1: Who is the most victorious figure? PostScript? Because this game
Speaker 1: arguably cemented Big Game Bob. Maybe maybe for Bob study
Speaker 1: because he goes on to win a lot, but in
Speaker 1: those big games at Oklahoma getting killed by USC, which,
Speaker 1: by the way, who is the defensive coordinator that one
Speaker 1: year for Oklahoma against SC in the national championship, bopul o'calini. Yeah,
Speaker 1: fifty five fourteen, I believe. And just it happens year
Speaker 1: after year where Oklahoma seems to be in a good
Speaker 1: place and then they lose a huge game and just
Speaker 1: they can't quite get over the hump. They get to
Speaker 1: the playoff with Baker Mayfield, can't quite get there, and
Speaker 1: after losing two nowtional championships and then a festa bow
Speaker 1: against the whack champion, Big Game Bob sort of becomes
Speaker 1: cemented into Stone I think. Right, so I'm guessing that's
Speaker 1: your answer. I think it is. I think it's the
Speaker 1: most fascinating version. He's an XFL GM and head coach.
Speaker 1: Very briefly, yeah, very briefly. I don't know. As a beard,
Speaker 1: yeah I don't.
Speaker 2: I mean, Bob Stoops is a good one and probably
Speaker 2: overlooked by many folks who think back to this game.
Speaker 2: I just keep coming back to Chris Peterson. This was
Speaker 2: Peterson's first year. He went in there, guns a blazing,
Speaker 2: and if you're gonna win a game, if you're gonna
Speaker 2: do it in as dramatic a fashion as possible, this
Speaker 2: is the.
Speaker 1: Way to do it.
Speaker 2: And from that moment on, Chris Peterson was sort of
Speaker 2: a legend. You know, he was highly sought after a year. Yeah,
Speaker 2: he was highly sought after pretty much every year following
Speaker 2: that game, and not just by schools the size of
Speaker 2: Boise State, ones that were much much bigger. Eventually he
Speaker 2: does jump over to Washington. Now he's going to be
Speaker 2: working as more of an administrator. But Chris Peterson cemented
Speaker 2: his legacy in college football with this win.
Speaker 1: By the way, I watched this game alone in my apartment.
Speaker 1: I was roommates with Liney Fan Scott and West Coast Kevin.
Speaker 1: At the time. I had just come back from vacation,
Speaker 1: some sort of winter vacation. This was after my first
Speaker 1: season as the college football tour guide doing videos in
Speaker 1: the Pac ten at Tailgates. I come back from vacation,
Speaker 1: I'm watching this game. I forget if I was in
Speaker 1: my room or if I was in the living room,
Speaker 1: and I don't remember. Also if Kevin was just passed
Speaker 1: out in his room sleeping, because this was in the
Speaker 1: West Coast, it wasn't that late, this was in La
Speaker 1: or if his then girlfriend now wife was with him
Speaker 1: and I didn't want to interrupt them, so I was
Speaker 1: not screaming. I was doing, like you know what a
Speaker 1: silent scream is like, Sometimes you get a shot and
Speaker 1: you get so much pain, you got the doctors, or
Speaker 1: you just sort of yelp and don't make any noises,
Speaker 1: your face turns red. That's what I was doing as
Speaker 1: I watched this game, not wanting to wake up or
Speaker 1: disturb potentially a sexy time for West Coast Kevin. And
Speaker 1: so that's what I was doing, silently yelling as this
Speaker 1: game unfolded.
Speaker 2: At the end, all right, well, fun, fun show. Thank
Speaker 2: you again for giving us so much of your time.
Speaker 2: Hope you're out there, Hope you're staying safe. We've both
Speaker 2: enjoyed doing this. So we'll have to go back in
Speaker 2: the lab and figure out if there are any other
Speaker 2: games that have been requested by the verball er hood.
Speaker 1: Yes, by all means.
Speaker 2: If you want to reach out on social media or
Speaker 2: at Cliverble at gmail dot com and let us know
Speaker 2: what games we should try to cover next. Ord knows
Speaker 2: we've got plenty of time and an infinite number of possibilities.
Speaker 2: We've done four of them now. Each one has been
Speaker 2: more exciting than the last. So if you're cool with it, Dan,
Speaker 2: we can keep doing this for a few more weeks.
Speaker 1: They're not playing any games this weekend, are they? I
Speaker 1: don't think so. All we said is on our Instagram
Speaker 1: live feed, which, by the way, follow just solid verbal
Speaker 1: on Instagram or Twitter or whatever you want. It has
Speaker 1: to be from the nineties. We've done early two thousands,
Speaker 1: we've done mid two thousands. We sort of focused on
Speaker 1: either just into the solidverbal tenure or just before leading
Speaker 1: up to the solidverbal tenure that started in two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight. We want a game that is a fascinating, interesting,
Speaker 1: wild rewatch from the nineties. So if you could suggest
Speaker 1: that either Twitter, email, soliverble at gmail, dot com, Reddit,
Speaker 1: any of those places, we will see it from the
Speaker 1: nineteen nineties. The next one of these shows we do.
Speaker 1: That's where we want to focus on what it has
Speaker 1: to be four x three. We got to do standard
Speaker 1: deft for this next one. All right, Well, Daniel, it's
Speaker 1: been a pleasure talking to you. As always, we will
Speaker 1: reconvene in a week. In the meantime, you stay safe
Speaker 1: out there, okay, thank you very much. You do the
Speaker 1: same for my good friend.
Speaker 2: Dan Rubenstein out there on the West coast, for myself,
Speaker 2: Ty hilden Brand all the way over here back east.
Speaker 1: We will catch you all week. In the meantime, stay
Speaker 1: solid face.