THE GREATEST BRONCO GAMES OF ALL TIME: PART DEUX

Wimbledon has been cancelled. The Olympics are pushed off yet another year. Jon Jones just got another DWI, so that’s pretty normal I guess. Ignoring our own safety in the face of perilous earthquakes, the OBNUG staff has endeavored to pick their favorite games from memory.

The only rules?

1. No Fiesta Bowls (too obvious)
2. It must be awesome

This will be a short series, with each member of the staff picking a game from the past, and writing a bit about why it was awesome. With that in mind, here’s our next entry:

MICHAEL’S PICK: 2006 OREGON STATE GAME

Watch the game here! (shout-out to Mark the Bronco!)

2006 was my freshman year at Boise State. I had spent my high school years in northern Idaho, but grew up in Boise, so I raced back down here pretty much as soon as I could after graduation.

I didn’t watch a lot of football. I had played since 7th grade, but apparently we ran such vanilla systems that I never fully understood how complex and exciting the game could be. I just liked tackling people. So...despite the fact that I pretty much only watched two or three games every season (Boise State Broncos and the Detroit Lions), I took advantage of the free tickets as a student and wandered down to the stadium that September 7th.

The opponents were the Oregon State Beavers; while I didn’t yet understand the disparities in conferences, I understood that the PAC-10 was better than the WAC. At the beginning of the game, that seemed to bear out on the field. Oregon State quickly had a punt return TD and another offensive score to go on top 14-0. It was sad. But then...something amazing happened.

Some scrappy, little running back with an EXCELLENT last name (first name, Ian) took a handoff and split the defense for a 50+ yard TD. My favorite part of rewatching that game is the announcer on ESPN, already starting to check out a little, saying “...and stopping the run is really the strength of this Beavers defense BUT JOHNSON FINDS A CREASE!” right as Ian broke free for his first long touchdown. He found a lot of creases that day. He found so many creases on that “strong” Beavers run defense that he finished with 240 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.

The Broncos, who had started the game in an 0-14 hole reeled off 42 straight, unanswered points on the team that would take down number 1 USC later that year and finish with 10 wins. As for me, the excitement of that day was the spark that ignited what has become an absolute OBSESSION with the game of football. I watched every single game that season and went to at least three home games. My new obsession was rewarded with Boise State winning that first, legendary Fiesta Bowl at the end of the season.

I hope you enjoy reliving it, too.