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This Day In Sports…December 8, 1990, 35 years ago today:
One of the classic games in Boise State football history is played in the semi-finals of the Division I-AA playoffs. The Broncos had a rematch in Reno with Nevada, a team they had beaten 30-14 in Boise four weeks earlier. Boise State was coming off two straight playoff wins in Bronco Stadium—over Northern Iowa and Middle Tennessee—and was seeking its second-ever trip to the I-AA national championship game.
In that first one against Nevada, the high-powered Wolf Pack offense was held to just 216 yards as Erik Helgeson, a senior out of Bishop Kelly, had one of the best games of his heavily-decorated career, logging nine tackles with three sacks. Helgeson also contributed four pass deflections. The sacks helped limit Nevada to minus-14 yards rushing, still the sixth-fewest allowed in Boise State history.
The rematch bore no resemblance. Nevada busted out to a 20-7 lead late in the second quarter after Boise State starting quarterback Mike Virden was hit and fumbled, with the loose ball recovered in the end zone for a Wolf Pack touchdown. Virden had been solid all year, but at that point coach Skip Hall opted for backup Duane Halladay, who had thrown only 10 passes during the season. Halladay promptly drove the Broncos 80 yards on the ensuing drive, hitting Winky White from 30 yards out to get them back in the game at halftime.
Halladay continued his mastery in the second half with scoring throws to of 44 yards to White (who had a school-record 264 yards receiving on the day) and six yards to Terry Heffner. Halladay put up a stunning 382 yards through the air in a little more than two quarters. But Nevada kept counter-punching with running back Ray Whalen, who rushed for 245 yards and three touchdowns. The Broncos found themselves trailing 45-38 with less than a minute left when Halliday was injured momentarily. Virden came back in to throw a game-tying touchdown pass, sending the knock-down-drag-out battle to overtime.
Neither team scored in the first OT, but it was not without drama. Nevada first missed a 29-yard field goal, meaning Boise State needed just one of its own to advance to the title game. But the Broncos’ usually-dependable Mike Black missed his from 37 yards out, and the bout went on. Both teams found the end zone in the second OT to force a third one with the score tied 52-52. The Wolf Pack had the ball first and scored a TD. The Broncos, thanks to a sack and a false start, were quickly backed up to the 35-yard line. On fourth and 10 from the 25, Halladay overthrew Heffner, and the Wolf Pack prevailed (and exhaled).
(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.)
