Jan. 5, 2010

Broncos prove they're worthy of BCS stage

By Dennis Dodd | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Boise State: The Sequel was missing part of the pure shock value of the original.

"No one got married," Fiesta Bowl staffer Mike Johnson said.

The rest of the script ... well, where did we leave off three years ago? Right, with Boise State clowning the opposition with its Harlem Globetrotters routine. We had Beaver Cleaver's dad masquerading as the cut-throat coach calling trick plays. Undersized Broncos cavorting on the University of Phoenix Stadium turf looking for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

But no, the star tailback definitely did not propose to his cheerleader fianceé this time. Let's hope the Broncos are way beyond the matrimonial novelty stage after stopping No. 3 TCU 17-10 in the Fiesta.

The country might look at the game as a fight breaking out at the kiddie table, as this bowl was referred to because of the undefeated mid-major participants. But can't we get over that? By late Thursday night, there will be two undefeated teams left in the country. One of them will be a superpower from Austin or Tuscaloosa with multiple national championships. The other owns the Fiesta Bowl. Boise now joins Utah as the only non-BCS program to win two BCS bowls.

"Undersized, oversized, it doesn't matter," Boise defensive lineman Jarrell Root said. "Being as deserving as we are, people can say what they want. We're champions."

Today Glendale, tomorrow the world, for the Broncos.

"That team was much different than this team," said Chris Petersen, Boise State's Ward Cleaver-wholesome coach, whose team shocked Oklahoma here in overtime three years ago. "There's no sneaking up on anybody this time."

In that 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Petersen needed three mind-boggling trick plays to upset the Sooners. On Monday, a fake punt merely set up the winning touchdown in a game that for more than three quarters resembled Bo and Woody: The Early Years.

The elitists will call it boring up until halfway through the fourth quarter. In the SEC, they call a 10-10 game in the final quarter the Iron Bowl. Such was the vibe as Boise State won a grinder, made another BCS statement and now awaits its 2010 preseason ranking. That's the next step. The cuddly Broncos can't become a true national power until they are ranked high enough to contend for a title.

This season they started at No. 14 and were stiff-armed from a title shot because the presence of four other unbeatens at the end of the regular season. Now the Broncos likely will finish in the top five. There are precious few reasons to doubt them or TCU for next season. The Frogs lose six senior starters. The Broncos lose one.

"We came up short," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "For me, I don't think that we backed down the mountain at all."

TCU, 12-1, has beaten as many ranked teams as Texas this season (two). Since beating OU, Boise hasn't exactly faded into the woodwork. It is 36-4 since that night.

The season began, really, for all the disenfranchised BCS schools last spring when Boise AD Gene Bleymaier testified during BCS hearings before Congress. Bleymaier, an attorney by trade, was eloquent in pointing out the unfairness of the system, especially for a team that completed its fourth undefeated regular season since 2004.

If Boise State goes undefeated again next season, Chris Petersen should be hoisting a bigger, more sparkling trophy. (US Presswire)

But tonight, we're celebrating."

They're celebrating because the pieces are in place for 2010 and beyond. The buzz should be there with Virginia Tech and Oregon State on the schedule. Sophomore Kellen Moore is one of the most efficient passers in the country. The defense outplayed Patterson's unit, which came in No. 1 in the country.

Patterson's punt-return unit just lost focus on the biggest play of the night. The play is called "Riddler" -- that's the technical name for Boise State's fake punt that helped break up that 10-10 tie in the fourth quarter. Punter Kyle Brotzman calmly took the snap from his own 33 and hit blocking back/tight end Kyle Efaw for 29 yards to the TCU 38.

Four plays later, it was in the end zone with 7:21 left.

"They don't seem like they take guts [to call] to me," Petersen said of the trick plays. "They seem like plays that get us what we need."

Three years ago, it was "Statue Left" when tailback Ian Johnson took Jared Zabransky's Statue of Liberty handoff for the two-point conversion that beat Oklahoma. Boise needed those trick plays to win that game. This time, the trickeration complemented a defensive effort that even Texas and Alabama have to admire.

Riddler was nice but it was Petersen, along with defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox, who devised a defense that confused TCU all night.

Basically, Wilcox ripped up the old scheme, added a defensive back or two, and went with a 3-2-6 look. TCU had won each of its previous seven games by at least 27 points. It converted one third down (out of 12) on Monday.

"They didn't know what was coming at them," Boise defensive back Kyle Wilson said. "We can play with anybody. I just want respect. Everybody said, 'TCU, if they blow us out, they're going to be national champions.' "

That was part of the buildup to this game, which matched two unbeaten teams outside of the championship game for the first time. The BCS, and Fiesta, were criticized for blocking TCU and Boise from meeting a Goliath in another bowl. Something called PlayoffPac.com even ran a TV ad in the Boise and Dallas/Fort Worth markets during the Fox broadcast clowning the BCS.

Kiddie table? This is what big timers do in bowls. They play each other. The only Goliath out there for either team was Florida. That wasn't happening because Cincinnati got the gig in the Sugar and was promptly stripped of its manhood.

Either of these teams beating Iowa or Georgia Tech would have mildly surprising, maybe expected. When they were paired together, it was a classic.

Can it ever be this fun and pure and innocent again for Boise? Well, yes. Part of Boise's charm is that it is the anti-Miami. If swagger were a popsicle, it would melt in Boise. Efaw is a local kid who almost blushes every time he catches a ball. Brotzman agonized over a missed field goal and some shaky punting earlier in the game.

Guys, own it. You are the first 14-0 team since Ohio State in 2002. The way college football is trending, this shocker stuff is just getting started. Cincinnati or TCU, depending on which computers you believe, came within a second of playing Alabama for the national championship.

Squint a little, and these two mid-major Cinderfellas could have been playing in Columbus or Ann Arbor on the third Saturday in November. The football was that good. The disbelievers, though, are still too many.

"I'd put my team up against anybody," Root said.

That's the downside to Boise State: The Sequel. Sadly, there is no one left for the Broncos to play.