Broncos break into bag of tricks -- and then some

So it at least was battle tested. Sort of.

"You seem like you want to go back to what got you there, the old bread-and-butter plays," 30-year-old offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said. "But they weren't working."

Order quickly broke down. After scoring the winner, Johnson got on a knee and proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend. Broncos fans unfurled the obligatory "Bring On Ohio State" sign.

Zabransky admitted he went Joe Namath the night before and guaranteed a victory at a Boise pep rally.

"I told them I was laying in bed and I started visualizing a 21-18 victory," Zabransky. "Then I woke up and realized I was dreaming because we were going to beat them by much more than that."

OK, Zabransky got the margin wrong, but at least he was here. Last year was such a downer for Jay-Z that he sought out a sports psychologist. Committing six turnovers in one half against Georgia will do that. A year later he was leading the Broncos to an undefeated season.

He still makes stupid plays. A pick six, 33-yard interception return by Oklahoma's Marcus Walker with 1:02 left looked like the game winner.

That is until the hook-and-ladder, which went down as Zabransky's third touchdown pass.

"After I threw that interception I had probably 10 guys come up to me and say, 'There's a minute left, you can do it,'" said Zabransky, who beat a Top 25 team for the first time. "You know, we did it."

Every Cinderella sports story has to start somewhere. Rocky had his slab of meat. The 1980 U.S. hockey team had its Russia. George Mason suddenly has its college football clone.

Boise State beat Oklahoma, which had 13 more bowl wins (24 total) than the Broncos had years in I-A. Until 1968, the school was a junior college, then graduated from Division II to I-AA in the late 1970s. Boise didn't go I-A until 1996. Ten years ago Monday, the coach that first year, Pokey Allen, was buried after dying of cancer.

The result had to make some of the Broncos want to stick around another week to see if their game compared with No. 1 Ohio State. You know, just for fun. There are still only two undefeated teams left.

Center Jadon Dailey thought about that for a second.

"I don't think we have any more plays left," he said.