Beyond Common Sense

With the real very real possibility of a BCS game in 2008 for the Cougs the blog wouldn't be complete with a quick overview of five potential best non BCS teams since those games began back in 1999 (otherwise would have included the 96 Cougs victory in the Cotton Bowl). The nominees for the five potential best non BCS teams since 1999 include the following...


2006 BSU Broncos (Fiesta Bowl 43-42 OT over Oklahoma) First year head coach Chris Peterson finished an undefeated season with possibly one of the most exciting bowl games in history (ranks definately up there with the Miracle Bowl). Oklahoma Heisman hopeful RB Adrian Peterson broke his collarbone in the Sooner's sixth game of the season but was healthy enough to play in this absolute wild ride of emotion. Boise came into the bowl with key victories over Oregon State, Hawaii and Fresno State. Late in the game Bronco QB Jared Zabransky was picked off by Marcus Walker who returned it 34 yards for the TD. After the PAT the Sooners led 35-28 with only 1:02 left. BSU drove to the Sooner 42 facing now 4th and 18 (ironic matching the blog title) with only 18 ticks left. What followed was hook and lateral executed flawlessly. Zabransky passed downfield 15 yards to Drisdan James who scooped it in stride perfectly to Jerard Rabb along the left sideline for a quick TD. At the end of regulation BSU elected to play defense first. Oklahoma scored on their first play with a 25 yard scamper by Adrian Peterson. On the Broncs turn now facing 4th and 2 Boise ran a wide receiver rollout option. Quarterback Zabransky ran in motion while Vinny Perretta (slotted as a RB) took the snap rolling to his right throwing a TD to TE Derek Schouman. Instead of taking the normal PAT for a second OT the Broncs went for it all going for two. Zabransky faked a quick pass to his right but did a left hand backhandoff to Ian Johnson who ran in completely untouched for the win. If the victory wasn't enough Ian (on live tv) got down on one knee and proposed to the head cheerleader who accepted. They were lated married on 28 July 2007.

2004 Yewts (Fiesta Bowl 35-7 over Pittsburgh) The fifth ranked yewts were led by head coach Urban Meyer and game MVP Alex Smith directed the unstoppable spread offense. They were simply amazing finishing undefeated (11-0) including key out of conference victories over Arizona, Texas A/M, North Carolina capped off with a fine tuned dominating performance over #19 Pittsburgh. Paris Warren (Smith's go to guy) left the field victorious with a new Fiesta Bowl record of 15 RECs 198 yards and 2 TDs. Would have been nice to see the matchup against Auburn who they deserved to see how good the 2004 Yewts really were.

2007 BYU (Vegas Bowl 38-8 over Oregon) Amongst the pre-game hype it will be remembered the statement from Ducks coach Mike Belotti who publicly derided the Cougs stating that they could not even begin to compete with a PAC10 team. What followed simply was a good old fashioned spanking. BYU players took to heart Belotti's statement and backed up their feelings with their play on the field. Oregon had no answer for game MVP Jonny Harline at game's end had 9 REC, 181 yards and a TD. The ducks didn't even get on the scoreboard till the 4th quarter when the Cougs had began pulling much of its starters. John Beck threw for 375 yards including 2 TDs. Justin Robinson had 2 intercepted passes. Curtis Brown ran for 120 yards. Even after the shellacking Belotti still refused to give credit or any respect to the Cougs when he was asked specifically about his earlier controversial statement.

2003 Miami OH (GMAC Bowl 49-28 over Louisville) In a matchup of high powered offenses Miami OH Redhawks outgained the cardinals 597-492. Ben Roethlisberger ended his collegiate career in style. Big Ben threw for 376 yards and 4 first half touchdowns leading #10 Miami OH to a 49-28 GMAC Bowl victory over the Cardinals. It was the Redhawks first bowl appearance since 1986 and first postseason win in 28 years. With the performance Ben joined Byron Leftwich and Chad Pennington as the only MAC QBs to reach the pinnacle of over 11,000 career yards in total offense.

2002 Marshall (GMAC Bowl 64-61 over E Carolina) Both teams piled up points and stats so quickly even the coaches had trouble keeping track. Marshall's thundering herd stormed back from a 38-8 halftime deficit led by NFL bound Byron Leftwich. East Carolina was led by future NFL QB David Garrard. Leftwich finished 41 of 70, 4 scoring passes and a TD run. The teams combined for 1141 total yards that night. East Carolina's coach was quoted "I hope everyone got their money's worth"