2007 Boise State Broncos Football Team - Previous Season

Previous Season

The Broncos won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship with an undefeated 12-0 regular-season record (8-0 in the WAC), their second unbeaten regular season in the past three years. This was also Boise State's fifth consecutive season with at least a share of the WAC title, and the fourth in that period in which they went unbeaten in conference play. They became only the second team from outside the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to play in a BCS bowl game when they faced Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, defeating the Sooners in a dramatic thriller.

The Broncos completed an unbeaten season with a 43-42 overtime win over the Sooners. The Broncos led most of the game, but lost the lead late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Jared Zabransky threw an interception that was returned for an Oklahoma touchdown. They tied the game on a 50-yard hook and ladder play that ended in a touchdown with 7 seconds left. In the overtime, Sooners star running back Adrian Peterson scored a touchdown on the first play of Oklahoma's possession. Zabransky led the Broncos on a touchdown drive, capped off by a trick play in which backup receiver Vinny Peretta connected with tight end Derek Schouman on a fourth-down pass. They then gambled for the win on a two-point conversion, and tried another trick play. The Broncos ran a play very similar to the Statue of Liberty play, with Zabransky looking toward three receivers before handing the ball off behind his back to star running back Ian Johnson, who ran into the end zone untouched for the win.

Thanks to Florida's 41-14 thrashing of previously unbeaten Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game, the Broncos ended the season as the only undefeated team in NCAA Division I football, as no team in Division I-AA (officially known as the "Football Championship Subdivision") finished undefeated. (Three teams in lower divisions finished unbeaten: Grand Valley State in Division II, Mount Union in Division III, and Sioux Falls in NAIA.)

National recognition immediately followed the Fiesta Bowl. Boise State was the talk of the sports world for weeks after the game. Many thought that the Fiesta Bowl was the best game ever through online polls. Boise finished the season sixth in the USA Today coaches poll and fifth in the AP poll, with a single first-place vote in the latter. Quarterback Jared Zabransky was later named to the cover of the NCAA Football 08 video game. Four Bronco players were drafted in the 2007 NFL Draft, the most ever in Boise State history. Eight more were later signed through free agency. The Broncos were also nominated and won the 2007 ESPY awards in the categories of Best Game (Fiesta Bowl) and Best Play (Statue of Liberty).

In February and March 2008, the Statue of Liberty play was voted by the fans on ESPN as the #2 greatest highlight of all time during a bracket style tournament to determine the greatest highlight ever. BSU's trick play lost in the final round to Mike Eurzione's goal against the USSR in the 1980 "Miracle on Ice".