Arizona State vs. Boise State: Big Bowl Win Bittersweet for Broncos

It was the end of an era for Boise State—the end of Kellen Moore's illustrious career for the Broncos.

It was as bittersweet as any 56-24 bowl game victory over a Pac-12 opponent can get.

Moore wasn't quite as masterful as usual, throwing for 269 yards with two picks and two touchdowns, but he was more than good enough to extend his own NCAA record for wins by a college football quarterback to 50.

it did come against an Arizona State squad known for making mistakes and playing its last game under Dennis Erickson, who'd been relieved of his duties and replaced by Todd Graham between the end of the regular season and Thursday night's MAACO Bowl Las Vegas.

And it wasn't in a BCS bowl, even though the Broncos came in ranked seventh by college football's perplexing system. For the second year in a row, Chris Petersen's club finished with 12 wins, the last of which came at Sam Boyd Stadium in a pre-Christmas bowl game.

Meanwhile, Michigan and Virginia Tech are still practicing and preparing to play each other in the Sugar Bowl, a game that Boise State had seemingly done enough to play in.

The doubters will say that Boise State should've just taken care of business, that it should've played a tougher schedule and/or managed another point or two against TCU at home. The Broncos themselves likely wouldn't argue with that, at least not aloud. They'll take their lumps and their meaningless trophies and their comparatively paltry game check back to Idaho to prepare for life without the most celebrated player in school history.

Not that the Broncos won't have plenty to look forward to. They have a ton of talent in place, more than enough to win the Mountain West now that the Horned Frogs are hopping into the Big 12.

Once 2012 comes and goes, Boise State will no longer have to worry about tiptoeing its way to perfection every year just to play in a BCS bowl.

Assuming, of course, that the fat cats in control of the sport don't kick the Big East out for good or devise some other way to keep the Broncos at bay.

Moore noted after the game that his goal, like any other college athlete, was to leave his beloved program in better shape than whence he found it. The Broncos were as strong a mid-major program as any when he first arrived.

Now, after 50 wins and their third top-10 finish in as many seasons, Boise State has proved that it can hang with the big boys and will be one of them in less than two years' time.

Not bad for four years of work, even if it didn't come on a big stage after New Year's Eve.

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