"Game one, and that's what it is.." -Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen after his team's wild 33-30 win over the Hokies
Wow. If that was only Game One, sign me up for the next 12!!!
I know what he means, of course: he's downplaying all the superlatives (i.e. that this game was "a championship game" for the Broncos, that it was "the biggest game in Boise State History", that it was "all-or-nothing for the Broncos", etc..) and reminding everyone that, duh, all it means is that the Boise State Broncos beat the Virgina Tech Hokies on the night of Monday, September 6, in their first game of the season. And, oh yeah, they have 11 more. And there's absolutely no guarantee that they'll go on to repeat the kind of success they had last season, when they went 14-0, including a win over similarly then-undefeated TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.
But I do think he was being a little tongue-in-cheek, because that was a heck of a game. It was a marquee match-up, between two teams that are in the Top Ten in the Associated Press national rankings (Boise is #3, Tech is #10). It was the last game of the first week of the 2010 college football season. And it was the first chance for the Broncos to show that they belong in the conversation, the one that determines who can play for the National Championship. And the Broncos, coming from the WAC (Western Athletic Conference), where they play lightweights like San Jose State, New Mexico State and Utah State, must not only repeat last year's perfect record to be in that conversation, but they also needed to beat Virginia Tech, which figures to be harder to beat than anyone else they'll see this season.
But we all knew that for weeks (even months) heading into this game. The game itself, the EVENT, as something else entirely. Eighty-thousand fans (including several thousand from, TA-DA, Boise, Idaho, 2,300 miles away) packed into FedEx Field, home of Donovan McNabb and the NFL's Washington Redskins. It was a primetime, nationally-televised game on Labor Day. And, to me, it was even more special, because my brother goes to Virgina Tech, and was at the game, as was my dad. So it was epic.
Anyway, the game was nails-on-the-chalkboard awful early on, at least for Tech fans, when their team staggered through a dismal first quarter that left them down 17-0 after 15 minutes. Their first play from scrimmage was a fumble after the snap bounced off the fingertips of highly-touted senior quarterback Tyrod Taylor and was recovered by Boise and turned into a field goal. Then they can't even punt without screwing up, kicking the ball off an opposing receiver and setting up a quick touchdown for Boise State's pride and joy, QB Kellen Moore, who looks like that weird cousin you're embarrassed to be around but plays quarterback like Peyton Manning. And, when he gets a touchdown, he pumps his fist with more enthusiasm than the Tiger Woods of old, which all the Tech fans got to watch, twice, in that first quarter.
But, then, Tyrod Taylor, who has Vince Young/Michael Vick/Tim Tebow type tools, starts getting his act together and stops being intimidated by the experienced Boise State defense. Or, maybe it was just that he started throwing the ball. After going all Vick on us and just running after quickly seeing all his men covered for the first nine plays from scrimmage, he makes pass completions of 16 and 43 yards to set up their first touchdown, making it 17-7.
Let me skip some meanderings and just say, by halftime, it was 20-14, the crowd was back in it, and no matter was hailing Boise State as February's National Championship heir apparent anymore. The Hokies were alive and kicking. Seriously. While this was a great game for Boise State, a big win, an exciting contest and a vindication of Kellen Moore, it was also very much a coming out party for Taylor. I mean, he jumped clean over an oncoming tackler at one point in the third quarter en route to a game-high rush of 29 yards. While, early in the game, it looked like he was running because he lacked confidence in his offense or didn't feel like he had time to throw, no he was running because he knew he could make it.And, during a 2nd and 9 on Tech's first possession in the fourth quarter, Taylor held the ball long enough to be nearly sacked, dropped almost to all fours, somehow kept his knees up while using just his left fingertips to keep himself from falling all the way down, got back up, and trucked for 11 yards. I didn't describe that very well. Suffice to say a lot of people, let alone quarterbacks, wouldn't have been able to do that, and wouldn't have even tried.
Not long after that, Tech kicked a field goal, and it was 30-26. This came after their then-21-20 lead was eradicated when Boise State's D.J. Harper took a hand-off on a third-and-one, broke one tackle, and proceeded to run 71 yards for a shocker of a touchdown.
Anyway, to make a long(er) story short, the Hokies didn't do a good enough job of running out the clock late, they got a bad late hit penalty on Boise's ensuing drive, and Kellen Moore connected with Austin Pettis with 1:14 left to make it 33-30. Taylor's magic subsequently ran out in the last 50-some-odd seconds of the game and they lost a tough one.
This was a great game. I admit I've been getting nervous about the length of this post (and my direct memory of the game is fading slightly by now; it is a quarter after 1 a.m.), so I've skipped some finer details, but this game was terrific. My jaw dropped a number of times, and I had mostly written the Hokies off after that hideous first quarter. Then I assumed they had it in the bag, that no way was Boise going to catch up. Wrong. And I had assumed I would see my brother on TV because he's in the Corps of Cadets, he went to the game with said Corps of Cadets, and he told me they had a big banner with them, and I know, if there's two things the telecasts always show at football games (other than the cheerleaders) it's guys in uniform and eye-catching banners. I was wrong on both accounts. Sorry, Joel, I didn't see you :(
Yeah, so, hopefully the next game I watch won't have so many background details. I'm hoping to next write about Penn State/Alabama Saturday night. Bad night for the Hokies, and tomorrow will be a miserably day for the Tech campus, as everyone skips class because they're hung over, catching up on sleep, or just plain not interested. Anyway, until next time...see ya.
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