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This Day In Sports…October 7, 2006:
Boise State reaches the halfway point of its first undefeated season, improving to 6-0 with a 55-14 rout of Louisiana Tech at Bronco Stadium. The Bulldogs scored first and last, but the Broncos put up 55 points in between. Boise State, trying to preserve its workhorse for the long haul, ran star running back Ian Johnson just 14 times in the game, but he still gained 92 yards and scored a touchdown. Backup Brett Denton came on to rush for 52 yards and two TDs.
A key contributor on the ground, though, was sophomore Vinny Perretta, who pulled double-duty in 2006 as a wide receiver and running back. Perretta caught only one pass for six yards, but he netted 57 rushing on five carries. That gave Boise State’s “slash” 122 on 17 attempts over two games. Perretta went back to his primary position, wideout, as a junior and senior. Speaking of wide receivers, Drisan James led that group in yardage that night with 59 yards, and Jerard Rabb scored on a five-yard pass from Jared Zabrasky. Little did that trio know it would be involved in one of the most famous plays in college football history less than three months later.
It’s cool to relive some of the other names in that box score. The win was punctuated by a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown from safety Marty Tadman, who would have two interceptions—including a pick-six—as he captured Defensive Player of the Game honors in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Four players on the 2006 squad would be drafted into the NFL the following spring: Gerald Alexander, Legedu Naanee, Korey Hall and Derek Schouman.
The drama at this point of the 2006 campaign was in the polls, as national writers wondered if the Broncos had time to climb high enough to draw an invitation to a BCS bowl. Boise State had just entered the Top 25 a couple of weeks earlier and was No. 20 going into the La Tech game. The Broncos stayed at No. 20 coming out. But in the end, they did reach the magic threshold. Boise State finished the season at No. 5 in the AP Poll after the Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma.
(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.)
