Presented by COMMERCIAL TIRE.
This Day In Sports…December 1, 2012:
Boise State clinches a share of the Mountain West championship in its final conference game, beating Nevada 27-21 in Reno. The win gave the Broncos their seventh consecutive 10-win season and their 11th triumph over Nevada in 12 years. It also earned them a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl, their third straight. The previous two Vegas bowls had been seen almost as consolation prizes for Boise State in 2010 and 2011 after near-misses in the BCS bowl sweepstakes. This time it was a cherished finish to the season (the Broncos would beat Washington 28-26).
Back to how Boise State got there. Sixth-year tailback D.J. Harper, who had been through the injury ringer as a Bronco, finally clinched a 1,000-yard season for the first time with 130 yards rushing against the Wolf Pack. Harper’s day kept Nevada at bay, especially when he started getting the ball steadily in the second half to chew some clock. And he effectively sealed the victory with a fourth-quarter onside kick recovery. What a gamer Harper was. He endured two season-ending knee injuries before climbing to eighth (at the time) on Boise State’s career rushing list.
But the play of the game came from fellow senior J.C. Percy, who foiled a potential game-turning Nevada touchdown with a third quarter fumble recovery in the end zone to key the win. It was the only turnover of the afternoon, but back then we called it the second-biggest of the season for Boise State next to Michael Atkinson’s 36-yard interception return that won the BYU game that September. Percy was a classic Boise State walk-on from Blackfoot who made an early impression on coach Chris Petersen’s staff and was awarded a scholarship during his redshirt freshman year.
It turned out to be the last game at Mackay Stadium for legendary Nevada coach Chris Ault. It was Ault’s third stint as Wolf Pack coach, and he had already been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Ault would resign after a 49-48 loss to Arizona two weeks later in the New Mexico Bowl. He took over the program in 1976 and guided it into Big Sky membership and ultimately Division I-A. When he wasn’t coaching the Pack (and sometimes when he was), Ault was Nevada’s athletic director. His career record against the Broncos was 7-17, but you can never take the 2010 shocker away from him. If you know, you know.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
