A tale of two very different schools was the story behind the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma, a school filled with rich football tradition and Boise State, a small former JUCO school in Idaho. The story with Oklahoma begins after World War II. Going into WW2, OU wasn't much of a football power.
In 1947, Oklahoma hired Bud Wilkinson, a former Minnesota quarterback to coach the distraught Sooners. Within 3 years, OU was turned around and won the 1950 National Championship. OU would define College Football in the '50's. It was shown in the middle part of the decade where OU won 47 straight from 1953-1957. By the end of the decade, OU had won 3 National Championships.
In 1963, Wilkinson retired at 145-29-4. The next coach wasn't as good, but in 1967, Chuck Fairbanks came to Norman to restore OU's winning ways. OU went 10-1 that year but never won another championship. The closest they came was falling short to Nebraska 35-31 in, "The Game of the Century". In 1973, Fairbanks left and Barry Switzer was hired.
The beginning of Switzer's tenure was bad as OU was placed on probation for transcript violations. His first year, OU went 10-0-1. Promise seemed ahead for the former Arkansas linebacker. The '70's produced 2 National Championships for OU and a record of 73-7-2 for Switzer. The early-80's were problematic for OU as they had 16 losses in 4 years. 1984 would be a turnaround for OU as they went 9-2-1.
From 1985-1987, OU went 33-0...except against Miami. OU won the 1985 National Championship but lost to the Canes in the Orange Bowl during the regular season. In '86, they lost to the Canes at home in Norman and they lost the 1988 National Championship in the OB. Following that lost, OU was placed on probation. The following six months consisted of a shooting and a rape in the atheletic dorm by one of the players, Switzer's house was robbed by another of the players, and star Quarterback Charles Thompson's arrest for selling cocaine to an undercover officer and so Switzer was gone.
The nineties were a nightmare for OU as they crashed and burned under coaches Gary Gibbs and Howard Schnellenberger. In 1999, after going 5-6 under John Blake, OU hired Bob Stoops, defensive coordinator of the Florida Gators. In Stoops 1st year, OU turned around and went 7-5, their best record in a decade. 2000 would be a season to remember.
In 2000, OU started the season at Number 19 and won their first 4 games by 125 points combined. It was a 63-14 win over Texas that put OU back on the map. Following the win, OU would beat 2 Kansas State in Manhatten 41-31 and 1 Nebraska at home 31-14. OU would finish at 12-0, winning the Big XII title and earning a shot in the Orange Bowl against 3 Florida State for the National Championship.
OU would dominate FSU en route to a 13-2 win over the defending champs. '01 would not be memorable for OU but '02, '03, and '04 were seasons not to forget. In 2002, OU won another Big XII title and defeated Pac 10 champion Washington State 34-14 in the Rose Bowl. In 2003, OU set a record for points scored in the season(for the team) and entered the Big XII title game at 1. However, the heavily-favored Sooners were stunned by Kansas State 35-7. Still OU earned a shot for the championship only to lose to LSU in a "chess" match 21-14.
OU returned to the title game in '04, winning the Big XII championship, but was stomped by USC in the Orange Bowl 55-19 to give the Trojans the title. In 2005, OU struggled and lost to TCU in the opener, and was demolished by Texas. At the end of the year, OU finished on a high note at 8-4 beating 6 Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. 2006, however, would not be a good start.
In the off-season, Quarterback Rhett Bhomar and lineman J.D. Quinn were kicked off the team for violating NCAA rules and Paul Thompson(who was a Receiver the year before) was named starting Quarterback. OU started bad losing to Oregon and Texas and started 2-2. However, Oklahoma lost not the rest of the fall winning the Big XII title game over Nebraska. OU seemed to be on fire. Boise State, had a different story, itself.
Boise State was founded as Boise Junior College in 1932. In 1947, Boise hired Lyle Smith to coach the football team. In his first 3 years, Boise went 28-0. In 1958, Boise State won the NJCAA Championship beating Tyler 22-0. However, Smith could not accomplish another championship and ended his tenure in 1967 finishing 153-25-6 overall.
In 1968, Boise Junior College became Boise State and moved to Division II football. With Tony Knap running the team, the Broncos would go 71-19 under Knap in 8 seasons with three 10-win seasons. Jim Criner would be hired next lasting six seasons and moving Boise to Division I-AA(or FCS) football and winning the 1980 National Championship. Boise, however, would struggle the rest of the decade. The '90's were prosporous for the Broncos as they appeared in the I-AA Title game in 1994, moved to I-A football in 1996, and won its first bowl game beating Louisville 34-31 in the Humanitarian Bowl.
As the new millennium began, Boise continued rising through the ranks of I-A football. December 23, 2003 would be a huge test for the Broncos. Going into the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl, Boise State was 12-1 facing off against an 11-1 TCU squad, who had home-field advantage because of the game being played at their home stadium. In an epic battle(which won the award for "Best Bowl Game of the Year" in the Basford College Football awards), Boise won 34-31 to proove that the smurf turf was not the only type of stadium they could play in.
In 2004, Boise got off to a hot start going 11-0. The result was a Liberty Bowl match-up against C-USA champ Louisville, who was 10-1. Louisville's only loss came against Miami, in a tight one at the OB. Boise lead 34-21 going in the 3rd Quarter when Stefan LeFors rallied the Cardinals back. At the end of the 3rd, Louisville had a 35-34 lead. Boise would respond by making it 40-35, but Louisville scored twice to make it 44-40. At the end, Jared Zabransky's Hail Mary fell short and Boise lost a bowl game for the first time ever.
2005 would be forgettable as the Broncos finished 8-5 losing at home to Boston College in the MPC Computers Bowl. 2006, however, was one not to forget. Boise kicked it off would blowout victories over Sacramento State and Oregon State(who would later beat USC). The next two weeks were close as Boise escaped Wyoming and Hawaii. The following week, Boise continued their path of destruction destroying Utah, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Idaho, and Fresno State. However, it appeared as the dream may die as Boise trailed San Jose State 20-13 late in the 4th Quarter. A miracle rally turned out to be the answer as the Broncos scored twice in the final moments to win 23-20. The final 2 weeks were easy 49-10 and 38-7 wins over Utah State and Nevada.
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