Kyle Brotzman's Missed Kicks Cost Boise State a Bid at the BCS

It was about to be a miracle.

When Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore floated a 54-yard, late fourth-quarter pass to wide receiver Titus Young for an improbable hook-up with just two seconds remaining, it seemed like the type of play that would have us searching for nicknames to justify its place in college football history.

Boise State, knotted up at 31 all with WAC foe Nevada, needed just one nutty throw and catch to get in position to escape the Reno desert with a win and continue their quest for a national championship game berth; however, in the end, it was not to be.

Kicker Kyle Brotzman shanked the 26-yard straightaway chip-shot field goal to end regulation only to outdo himself by missing a 29-yard field goal at the start of overtime.

With the missed field goals went Boise State’s title dreams. There will be no little guy crashing the big boys' party this season. Nevada kicker Anthony Martinez made sure of that by booting a 34-yard, game-clinching, heartbreaking field goal to give Nevada the 34-31 win in what many were calling the biggest game in the history of the Nevada football program.

All due respect has to go to Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick and Vai Taua, the Wolf Pack senior backfield duo that accounted for over 400 total yards of offense in their last game at Mackay Stadium.

It may have been a moot point anyways seeing as both Oregon and Auburn, the two top ranked teams in the nation, pulled off big wins today and will now most likely meet in the national championship game if they can pull through next weekend. But the loss will more than likely cost the Broncos a shot at a BCS bowl and the big payday that comes along with it.

It’s an ultimately devastating loss for Chris Peteresen’s team which had a 24-game winning streak heading into tonight’s battle with Nevada and had eyes on crashing the BCS party.

You can blame Brotzman or you can just blame the gods of college football for not being on Boise State’s side tonight.

As the Broncos players exhaled their frigid, cold-soaked breaths during the few remaining downs, maybe they had come to realize that the dream could only last so long before the cruel wake-up had to come.

This certainly isn’t the way Petersen, Moore and company had envisioned the night ending up but something tells me these Broncos are the type of team that will learn from the mistake of failing to put away this Nevada team and rebound to make a statement to end their season.

As for the Wolf Pack? Tonight, they dance in Reno as the kings of the WAC.

Congratulations are in order for head coach Chris Ault and the entire pistol-whipped operation he has put together out in the desert of Nevada. Tonight they are truly the biggest little city in the world.