IDAHO (AP) – Former Boise State coach Chris Petersen still gets asked about the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on the first day of 2007.
That game had everything.
Underdog Boise State took a 28-10 lead over one of college football’s blue bloods that was followed by a 25-point Sooners run capped by what could have been a back-breaking interception return for a touchdown with 1:02 left. Then the Broncos used three trick plays that remain sensations to not only force overtime but win 43-42.
And then there was the marriage proposal by Boise State running back Ian Johnson — shortly after scoring the winning two-point play — to cheerleader Chrissy Popadics that was accepted on national TV.
That game put Broncos football on the national map for most fans, but looking back 18 years later, Petersen sees it differently.
“Everybody wants to talk about that Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game, which is great how it all worked out and all those things,” Petersen said. “But we go back to play TCU (three years later) again on the big stage. It’s not as flashy a game, but to me, that was an even better win.”
Going back to the Fiesta Bowl and winning, Petersen reasoned, showed the Broncos weren’t a splash soon to fade away, that there was something longer lasting and more substantive happening on the famed blue turf.