Oklahoma football April Fools: Five worst championship losses in Big 12 era
By Chip Rouse
#4 Jan. 1, 2007 — Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42
Sooner fans are undoubtedly sick and tired of seeing highlight reruns of this classic New Years Six Bowl game for the last 10-plus years. It was the matchup that no Power Five team wanted: An historical college football powerhouse taking on the reigning giant of the mid-major ranks; a classic David vs. Goliath scenario.
This was a no-win encounter for the Sooners. A win would mean nothing because Oklahoma was expected to win. A loss, on the other hand, would only fuel the argument that the best of the mid-major teams are more than capable of playing with and beating the big boys of college football.
Oklahoma came into the game with an 11-2 season record and ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25. Boise State was 12-0 and ranked ninth nationally.
Boise State jumped out to a quick 14-0 advantage and added a second-quarter touchdown to take a 21-10 halftime lead.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, and Boise State took a 28-17 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Sooners scored 11 unanswered points in the fourth quarter on a field goal and two long touchdown drives. With the aid of a two-point conversion, Oklahoma tied the game at 28 with just 74 seconds remaining in regulation. This is when the dramatics really gained traction.
Fourteen seconds after the Sooners had tied the game, OU’s Marcus Walker picked off a pass by Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky amd returned it 34 yards for a touchdown, giving Oklahoma its first lead in the game with just over a minute remaining.
Faced with a fourth-and-long at midfield and time running down, Boise State head coach Chris Peterson called for a trick play, an old-fashioned hook-and-ladder play (a completed pass followed by a lateral to a trailing player) that the Broncos executed to perfection, tying the game with just seconds left to go and sending the game to overtime.
Oklahoma scored on the first play of the extra session on a 25-yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson. Up to that point, Peterson had been held to just 52 rushing yards. Now it was Boise State’s possession to try to stave off defeat and extend the game to a second overtime. toucvh
Down to its final down and still needing a score to extend the game, Boise State executed yet another trick play, this time a halfback pass to an open receiver in the end zone. A point-after kick would have tied to score and sent to game to a second extra session, but Peterson surprised everybody by having his team line up for an all-or-nothing two-point conversion attempt to win the game.
We all know what happened from there, as a third trick play, a Statue of Liberty play call with Zabransky handing the ball off behind his back to running back Ian Johnson, capped off an epic 43-42 Boise State upset over mighty Oklahoma.