Boise State Wins the Outrageous Ending Bowl

This is clearly off-topic, but I can’t help it. I’ve just witnessed the most incredible ending to a sporting event I think I’ve ever seen. Even if you only started watching with two minutes left, here’s what happened, as best I can recall in my postgame stupor:

Down 28-20, Oklahoma drives the length of the field in one minute, scoring a touchdown on a pass deflected in the endzone. This completes a comeback from being down 28-10 in the 3rd quarter. Oklahoma clearly has all the “momentum”, such as it is.

Boise State receives the kickoff, and the returner is one tackle away from housing it. Taking over on the 25 yard line with 1:26 left, Boise State QB Jared Zabransky is picked off on the first play by an Oklahoma DB and it’s returned for a touchdown. 35-28, Oklahoma. The momentum shift has achieved tsunami status. Sooners fans are dancing in the aisles.

Boise gets the ball again with 54 seconds left on their own 20. After a couple completions, a sack, and a couple incompletions, they have a 4th-and-18 on the 50 with 0:18 left. Facing do-or-die time, Zabransky hits Drisan James on a deep cross, which probably would have been good for a first down, only James then pitches the ball to Jerard Rabb crossing the other way for a perfect hook-and-lateral, Rabb wins a race to the pylon, and dives across to finish off the most spectacular touchdown of the year (the video is shown above).

Overtime. Oklahoma scores a touchdown in one play, as Adrian Peterson goes around the left side virtually untouched. 42-35, Oklahoma.

Boise State puts together a matching TD drive, unleashing a bewildering array of trick plays. The touchdown comes on a 4th-and-2 from the five, when QB Zabransky goes in motion to the left and the ball is direct-snapped to wideout Vinny Perretta, who rolls right and floats a perfect touch pass to Derek Schouman in the endzone. A direct-snap WR option on fourth down! Unbelievable. 42-41, Oklahoma.

Boise State then elects to go for two and try to win the game right then and there. In a play reminiscent of the old “Statue of Liberty” play, Zabransky fakes a WR screen to the right, hiding the ball behind his back and handing it to tailback Ian Johnson, who ran around the left end into the endzone and fired the ball into the stands in celebration. Your final score: 43-42, Boise State.

Look for it on ESPN Classic very soon. Probably tomorrow.

Update: And as if all that weren’t enough… After the game Ian Johnson, the Boise State tailback who scored the winning two-point converstion, dropped to a knee and proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend.

Update #2: I can’t stop thinking about this stuff today. Here’s an attempt at explaining why the “BCS problem” persists, and a simple solution for it: The BCS is like Jessica Alba (And Here’s How to Fix It)