Bronco Bustin’: Boise State upends VA Tech to cap wild opening weekend

Sep 8, 2010

In sports there is nothing greater than a big game living up to the incessant hype that surrounds it. This is partly because it occurs so infrequently (see: practically every Super Bowl prior to 2000), and partly because it means the event so many fans have been eagerly anticipating for so long did not disappoint. It’s the ultimate (non-gambling) payoff for sports fans.

Long before Boise State receiver Austin Pettis caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Kellen Moore with just over a minute left to give the Broncos an improbable 33-30 victory over Virginia Tech on Monday night, the two teams made sure the months of hype leading up to this clash was not unwarranted:

A packed, boisterous house at Fed Ex Field creating a raucous postseason atmosphere? Check. Bad-a** uniforms designed by Nike specifically for the game? Check. Fantastic performances by Heisman-caliber players? Check. An exciting start followed by an epic comeback, followed by a fantastic finish? Check and mate. Sure there was some sloppiness – 18 penalties, 3 turnovers, 2 missed field goals, 2 blocked kicks – but the Labor Day showdown between the number three and number ten teams in the country ultimately was everything it was hyped up to be and more.

To recap, the Little Broncos That Could from the non-BCS conference travelled from their funky blue field in the middle of Idaho all the way to the nation’s capital and slayed the mighty ACC powerhouse Hokies, jumping out to a 17-0 first quarter lead before leveling off and eventually falling behind, not once, not twice, but three separate times. VA Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor (15-22, 186 yds, 2 TDs; 16 carries, 73 yds rushing) and running back Ryan Williams (62 tot yds, 3 TDs) nearly led their team to the comeback win, but in the end the combination of Moore (22-38, 315 yds, 3 TDs) and Pettis (6 recs, 73 yds, 2 TDs, 1 blocked kick) was too much for the uncharacteristically sloppy Hokies to overcome.

Side note: I’m sporting a serious man-crush on Pettis - love his name, love his game, love that he’s the nephew of former Gold Glove-winning Angels outfielder Gary Pettis…but I digress.

With the win the Broncos are now in the driver’s seat for a potential berth in the BCS Championship game. And of course the haters have begun ripping them apart already, spouting the same “they don’t play any good teams in their conference, therefore they don’t deserve to go to the title game” crap. To which the common response is “they play who they have to play, they can’t control who’s in their conference”.

All I have to say to that is not only have they proved they will play anyone, anywhere with this season-opening gamble, but they also have #24 Oregon State coming to Boise in two weeks. On top of that, four of their other opponents this season had winning records last year, including the always-dangerous Fresno State Bulldogs and the potent Nevada Wolfpack. So they have a few cupcakes on the slate as well. But doesn’t every school? Shoot, right now it’s debabatle the Big East isn’t any tougher than the WAC!

Not every team can play in a power conference packed with legit title contenders and/or legendary football institutions. Boise State is making the most of what it’s got, and it’s obvious that football team is good enough to beat any team in the country on any given day. It’s not their fault there is no playoff system in place to prove whether or not they could beat an Alabama, Florida and Texas on consecutive weeks. Their only option is to go out and play tough out-of-conference games, beat their conference foes, and let the chips fall where they may.

Either that or do like the some of the other schools are doing and high-tail it out of their conference for greener pastures.

Maybe then they will finally be accepted as one of the big boys.