Boise State Memories: Five Bronco Football Games That Still Live On

Boise State University, a one-time junior college, has played many great games over the years.

The Boise State Broncos have two National Championships to their credit prior to coming to Division l Conference, and any one of those two would qualify as monumental to say the least.

Albeit, since arriving on hallowed BCS grounds, BSU has played many epic games, and have left their mark on all who dared to play against them or watch. The following is a list of a select number of games that have greatly impacted team coaches, players, and fans:

1. One game that still has fans talking six years later is the October 4, 2003 Boise State at Louisiana Tech matchup. La. Tech generally plays the Broncos a pretty decent game, but this one in Ruston, Louisiana was particularly breathtaking.

The Broncos won the game 43-37 and were behind by seven points going into the third quarter. That alone just sounds like any ole football game, nothing special.

Yet, that game starred Boise States' Ryan Dinwiddie, now a star in the Canadian Football League. Dinwiddie threw three touchdowns and rushed for two more. Still sounds average, doesn’t it?

OK, here's the kicker:  Ryan threw the ball 60 times, completing 40 passes totaling 532 yards with no intercepts. Now were talking football! So what made the Louisiana Tech victory so special and this one game so memorable?

Well football fans, it's just this easy:  La. Tech's then quarterback, Luke McCown, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was simply amazing that night. McCown’s Tech team threw for 483 yards and three touchdowns—two by Luke and one by Maxie Causey.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=232772348

2. It’s only fair to follow Dinwiddie with Taylor Tharp’s 2007 game against Nevada. Tharp was the Bronco quarterback for just his senior year, but if given time, he could certainly throw, and throw he did, for four touchdowns and a two-point conversion toss that sealed the victory.

But it was the end result that makes this game special.  Oh yes, the end result. The Bronco-Wolfpack game was decided in five overtimes with a final score Boise State 69 Nevada-Reno 67, the record for most points recorded by the NCAA in a single game.

3. The first road game for the Broncos in 2008 was against the Oregon Ducks at Eugene, Oregon. The game opened up just as the season began with Kellen Moore, the Broncos' first ever freshman quarterback.

KM threw for 386 yards, connecting on 24 of 36 throws for three touchdowns to defeat the Ducks 37-32 at Eugene’s Autzen Stadium.

Other than beating Oklahoma in 2006 at Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl game, the win over the Ducks was the only other time that the Broncos had beaten a BCS-caliber opponent on the road.

Still, beating a high caliber No. 1 quality team like Oregon was an amazing conquest for the redshirt freshman quarterback.

The final Moore touchdown pass in Oregon went to Vincent Perretta—a 73-yard score that had the Broncos ahead 31-13. The game ended close but truly was one-sided. The Boise State win is one of the single best efforts by the young Broncos at that point in their season.

4. The most memorable game the 2008 Broncos played was against Fresno State Bulldogs in BSU’s final home game.

Boise State won that game 61-10 but was ahead by only three points at halftime with a score of 13 to 10. The Broncos came out in the third quarter a brand new team.

Boise had spark, they had fire, and they would not be beaten. The Broncos rolled out another 48 points as they unraveled Fresno State with brilliant, concise play after play right before the eyes of the judges of three major bowls, whose job was supposed to select a representative for a final spot in the BCS series.

The judges chose between USC, who had lost once, and Ohio State, who had lost twice. Oh yes, the Broncos were undefeated: tough choice?

The Broncos' display showcased Jeremy Avery’s 43-yard touchdown run shortly into the third quarter and following that score came three more in under four minutes.

The stars were all over the field that game as Moore played great at QB; Ian Johnson had two TDs to tie Marshal Faulk’s record of 57 touchdowns in a career. Avery was great, but Kyle Wilson was super on D and ignited the crowd with a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown.

5. Indeed this article would be amiss if the 2006 Fiesta Bowl was not on this list. In fact the Bronco-Sooner Fiesta Bowl has pretty much gone down in history as the greatest Bowl game (if not “game”) ever played.

The Broncos played this game as they normally do, taking no prisoners. Boise State jumped out early, giving Oklahoma all it could handle and then held on for dear life as the Sooners came roaring back from an 18-point deficit.

With a 1:02 to go, Oklahoma had garnered the lead 35-28 and the impossible was looking into the eyes of Bronco fans everywhere.

However, impossible was not in the books for BSU in 2006 as Jared Zabranski hit Drison James, who pitched the ball to the Broncos speedy wide receiver, Jerard Rabb, who went in for the score.

Following the touchdown, the Broncos went for the tie and forced an overtime. But once again, the mighty Sooners pressured Boise State by scoring first in overtime and took the lead 42-35.

Boise State then scored a touchdown on a Vinny Perretta to Derek Shouman pass and then decided against the tie, utilizing the statue left play as Ian Johnson plowed in for the final two points of the game in one of the most dramatic victories in college football history. 

The final score was 43-42 Boise State and the Broncos ended the season 13-0. There are many great Bronco games and choosing these five may not be the greatest, but they are sure the most talked about. Go Broncos!