"Hook and ladder" and "Statue of Liberty" are two play calls out of college football's ancient playbook that will be forever ingrained in the memory of Oklahoma football fans -- and for all the wrong reasons.
Sooner fans will not soon forget -- perhaps ever -- the trickery and deception employed by Boise State late in the game in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl to take down mighty Oklahoma in what many consider one of the biggest upsets in college football since the calendar turned over to the 2000s.
The ESPN college football staff (eight writers and two editors) recently took on the task of identifying and ranking the top 25 plays since the 2000 season. "Boise State trickeration" in the classic 2007 Fiesta Bowl game ranked No. 2 on the list behind only the famous "Kick-Six" in the 2013 Iron Bowl rivalry game between Alabama and Auburn.
Infamous Fiesta Bowl Statue of Liberty considered top plays of century
Down 35-28 to Oklahoma and facing fourth down with 18 yards to go for a first down with just 18 seconds remaining in the game, Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky completed a 15-yard pass to Drisan James, who instead of turning and trying to pick up additional yardage, planted his feet and scoop-passed the ball to trailing wide receiver Jerard Rabb in stride, a perfect execution of the dusty old hook-and-ladder play against a Sooner defense caught completely off guard. Rabb scampered untouched 35 additional yards for a game-tying touchdown with seven seconds remaining, miraculously sending the game to overtime.
Boise State won the overtime coin toss and elected to go on defense first. In the extra session, Oklahoma scored on its first play with Adrian Peterson, playing in his first game after breaking his collarbone six games into the season, running it in from 25 yards. It was then Boise State's turn to try to match the Sooners' scoring effort and extend the overtime session or lose the game.
Faced with another fourth-down situation in their overtime possession with two yards to go for a first down from the Oklahoma five-yard line, the Broncos called another trick play with back-up wide receiver Vinny Perretta taking the snap from center, rolling to his right and throwing a touchdown pass to open tight end Derek Schouman in the end zone.
That's when things really took a dramatic turn. Instead of kicking the extra point and sending the contest to a second overtime, Boise State head coach Chris Peterson decided to roll the dice and attempt a two-point conversion to go for the win.
The Broncos lined up three wide receivers to the left of the formation. Zabransky took the snap in the shotgun, faked a right-handed pass to the right side, then handed the ball off with his left hand to running back Ian Johnson in motion from behind -- a variation of football deception known as the Statue of Liberty. It was no contest at that point as Johnson easily ran it into the end zone for a successful conversion that ended the game.
So in the span of 18 seconds, Boise State pulled off three trick plays to complete the upset that sent shock waves throughout the college football landscape. Not that Boise State wasn't capable of playing with and beating a Power Five team in Oklahoma -- after all, the win completed a perfect 13-0 season for the WAC champion Broncos -- but it was the manner in which they did so, reminiscent of David versus Goliath.
A combined 22 points were scored by the two teams in the final 1:26 of regulation and 15 more in overtime.
While Oklahoma was a touchdown favorite coming into the game, the prime storyline of the game was the matchup between a college football blue blood in Oklahoma versus a so-called Group of Five team in Boise State. The Broncos were only the second Group of Five program to play in and win a BCS (Bowl Championship Subdivision) bowl game.
Early on in the much-hyped contest, it looked like it might be all Boise State. The Broncos raced out to a 14-0 advantage midway through the opening quarter. The Broncos led 21-10 at halftime, and halfway through the third quarter had stretched the lead to 28-10.
Over the next seven minutes (from 8:07 in the third quarter to 1:02 in the fourth) the Sooners scored 25 unanswered points to take their first lead in the game at 35-28, leading to all the closing fireworks.
In the "Kick-Six" Iron Bowl game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban elected to attempt a field goal from 57 yards away with one second remaining on the game clock and the game tied 28-28. The attempt fell short, however, and was fielded nine yards deep in the end zone by Chris Davis of Auburn. Davis returned the kick 109 yards untouched down the sideline for a game-winning touchdown.
Two other memorable plays involving Oklahoma made the list. The "Superman" play from the 2001 OU-Texas Red River Rivalry was ranked No. 9 on the list. Sooner safety Roy Williams leaped high above the line of scrimmage and batted down Texas quarterback Chris Simms' pass at the Texas goal line and into the arms of Teddy Lehman, who stepped into the end zone for an Oklahoma touchdown. That single play, late in the game, stretched a 7-3 Sooner advantage to a 14-3 win.
The other play among the 25 voted the best of this century in which Oklahoma was a participant also took place during the 2001 season, three weeks after the Texas game. Nebraska Heisman Trophy quarterback Eric Crouch found himself on the receiving end of a fourth-quarter 63-yard touchdown pass on a halfback-reverse play in a 20-10 victory over top-ranked Oklahoma.
Plays from SEC teams dominated the list with 10 listed among the top 25. The Big 12 was next with four different plays involving three Big 12 teams (OU, Texas, Texas Tech) cited.
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