Presented by ANGELL’S BAR & GRILL RENATO.
Monday, December 29, 2014.
It's easy to say Boise State has been on this big stage before, having played in two previous Fiesta Bowls in the past seven years. But that really does not relate this season. Not a single player on this Bronco roster appeared in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl win over TCU. The last guy left from that squad, Kirby Moore, finished his career last year. The only stage comparable to this one for any current Boise State team member was the Chick-fil-A Kickoff in 2011, when the Broncos beat Georgia, 35-21, and some players saw their first action as redshirt freshmen. In slightly smaller season-opening spotlights since then, Boise State has fallen to Michigan State, Washington and Ole Miss.
On the other hand, big stages are inherent for Pac-12 teams, Arizona included. It doesn't get much bigger in the regular season than the one the Wildcats experienced in October, when they toppled No. 2 Oregon 31-24 at Autzen Stadium in a nationally-televised Thursday night game. Arizona was a 24-point underdog before bringing down eventual Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. Wildcats star linebacker Scooby Wright brought Mariota down literally with his biggest play of the season, a sack that saw Wright strip the ball and recover it himself to seal the victory.
Two other big stages this season didn't go so well for Arizona. The Wildcats had a shot at a key home win over USC after that shocker in Eugene, but kicker Casey Showron pushed a 36-yard field goal attempt wide right with 12 seconds left, and the Trojans won 28-26. Then there was the 51-13 loss to the Ducks in their rematch in the Pac-12 championship game, serving as the inspiration for redemption against the Broncos on Wednesday.
Boise State had to rally to win several times this season, but Arizona is the "it ain't over 'til it's over team." The launching pad for the Wildcats came the week before their upset of Oregon. Trailing Cal 31-13 in the fourth quarter, Arizona countered two more Bears touchdowns with five of their own, plus a field goal—a 36-point fourth quarter that earned UA a wild 49-45 victory. The game ended on a 47-yard Hail Mary TD from Anu Solomon to Austin Hill as the clock struck :00. Four of Solomon's five touchdown passes on the day came in that incredible fourth quarter as he completed 47 of 73 attempts, both school records. That's a ton for a program that has never thrown the ball that much. For comparison's sake, the Broncos' school records are 40 completions and 60 attempts, both set by Ryan Dinwiddie at Louisiana Tech in 2003.
A couple co-mingling notes going into Wednesday's game. Boise State linebacker Tanner Vallejo and Arizona defensive lineman Dan Pettinato rode together to the Sacramento airport Friday to catch their flights to Phoenix. Vallejo, a sophomore, and Pettinato, a senior, were teammates at Grass Valley High School. Pettinato also played with—and is close friends with—Vallejo's older brother Zach, who gave them the ride. Tanner was offered a scholarship at Arizona before he committed to the Broncos. Meanwhile, former Boise State linebacker Aaron Tevis, a standout in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, has good-naturedly threatened to wear a Bronco hat in Glendale as he sits with the Tevis family. But Arizona safety Jared Tevis is confident Aaron will wear little brother's Arizona jersey from the 2012 New Mexico Bowl. Blood is thicker than Bronco.
Taylor Kelly went out with a victory in his final appearance as an Arizona State Sun Devil Saturday. The Eagle High alum executed a four-yard shovel pass to Demario Richard for a touchdown with 4:45 left in the game to give ASU a 31-30 win over Duke in the Sun Bowl. Kelly was 24-of-34 for 240 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. "I'm proud of Taylor Kelly,” said Arizona State coach Todd Graham. “Man, he came out today and he was Taylor Kelly." Graham had his critics for sticking with him over backup Mike Bercovici when Kelly returned from a Week 3 broken foot. "They don't work here," Graham said. "They don't know the heart and the character that Taylor Kelly has. And he was the best leader to be on the field to give us the best chance to win. I've got no regrets on that.”
The Idaho Steelheads and Ontario Reign traded shootout victories over the weekend. The second one belonged to the Steelheads, who can carry that momentum into the new year. The highlight of the night was what Steelies play-by-play man Will Hoenike is calling "one of the strangest goals ever at CenturyLink Arena." In the first period, Idaho's Alex Belzile was passing the puck back into the offensive zone when it catapulted high in the air off Ontario's Derek Couture. It popped up toward the ceiling of the arena, and when it came down, it bounced just behind Reign goalie Joe Cannata into the net. The Steelheads would go on to win 4-3 in the shootout. Idaho now leads the ECHL’s Pacific Division by three points over Ontario, Colorado and Bakersfield.
As the Boise State men's basketball team preps for the Mountain West opener at Colorado State on New Year's Eve, the league standings in non-conference play tell us little. CSU is on top with its 13-0 record and No. 24 ranking, but the Rams don't have a jaw-dropping win. They beat rival Colorado by two points and Denver by one. Second-place Wyoming, who's 11-2, dropped the Buffaloes by 23. The Broncos' best win, the 82-71 victory at Saint Mary's, is good but not great. BSU is 10-3 after the loss to Loyola-Chicago in the title game of the Las Vegas Classic.
San Diego State is also 10-3, but with a stronger resume—the Aztecs' losses have been to Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati. UNLV, currently 9-3, looked very average until its 71-67 upset of Arizona last Tuesday. And this might be the season in which New Mexico's armor is pierced—the Lobos are 8-4 after their 68-65 upset loss at Grand Canyon last Tuesday. Each of the Mountain West's top six teams will open league play Wednesday.
The misery multiplied for the Idaho Stampede Saturday night when they were unable to find the bucket in Santa Cruz. The Warriors walloped the Stampede 87-66, handing Idaho its 10th straight loss. It was epic offensive futility for the Stamps, who shot just 34 percent from the field and saw star forward Kevin Murphy held scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting from the field. The Stampede will try to avoid going 0-for-December tomorrow night at Reno.
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December 29, 1982: Paul “Bear” Bryant coaches the final game of his legendary career in Alabama’s 21-15 victory over Illinois in the Liberty Bowl. Bryant would pass away 28 days later. He coached the Crimson Tide for 25 years, winning 13 SEC championships and six national titles. Bryant began his head coaching career in 1945 with one season at Maryland. He then spent eight years at Kentucky and five more at Texas A&M before going to Tuscaloosa. The win in the Liberty Bowl was the 323rd of Bryant’s career, then the most in college football history.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
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