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Boise State running Ian Johnson ran for 205 yards on 28 carries while catching four passes for 51 yards as he accounted for three touchdowns. |
On October 14, 2007, the Nevada Wolfpack traveled up to Boise, Idaho to take on the Boise State Broncos in a game that at the time was the highest scoring game in FBS(Football Bowl Subdivision)history.
Boise State came into the game with a 4-1 record led by second year head coach Chris Peterson, who had led the Broncos to a 13-0 season the year before that ended with the Broncos' improbable 43-42 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl in which the Broncos used a number of trick plays to help them pull off the upset.
Returning from that team was their leading rusher Ian Johnson, who had proposed to his girlfriend after the game, but not starting quarterback Jared Zabransky, who had graduated following the 2006 season with his replacement being senior Taylor Tharp, who had helped design the "Statue of Liberty" play that was the game-winning two point conversion in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Broncos' strength at this point of the 2007 season was their defense as they came into the game having allowed just 61 points and an average of 231.2 yards per game, good for #3 in total defense in the country.
Little did the Broncos know that their defense would be carved up by the Nevada Wolfpack, who came into the game with a brand new starting quarterback in Colin Kaepernick.
The redshirt freshman had taken over for an injured Nick Graziano the week before in which Kaepernick threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns in a losing effort for the Wolfpack as they came into the Boise State game with a 2-3 record.
The Wolfpack's head coach was Chris Ault, who was in the fourth season of his second tenure as the Nevada head coach as he directed the Wolfpack from 1976-1995 winning 170 games.
Since his return to the sidelines in 2004, Ault had used the "pistol formation" in which the running back lines up directly behind the quarterback who is in the shotgun formation which allows the quarterback to read the defense better and determine whether or not he should hand the ball off to the running back or keep it himself if he is a threat as a runner.
With Kaepernick at quarterback and sophomore Luke Lippincott as the running back, the Wolfpack hoped to use the pistol to help pull off an upset of the Broncos on the blue turf of Boise as Boise State had lost only two home games since the beginning of the 1999 season.
Boise State would get the ball to start the game as the Broncos would drive 64 yards in eight plays as Johnson carried the ball four times for 31 yards on the drive that ended with Jeremy Avery running it in from nine yards out to give Boise State an 7-0 lead.
Following an exchange of punts, the Wolfpack had the ball at their 10-yard-line when Kaepernick began to find his rhythm throwing the ball as he completed passes of 18 and 26 yards to wide receiver Marko Mitchell on the 12-play drive that culminated with Kaepernick connecting with tight end Junior Pakula on a 16-yard touchdown that would tie the game at 7 with 1:10 left in the first quarter.
The Broncos would begin their ensuing possession at their 32-yard-line as two runs by Tharp gained 11 yards for a Boise State 1st down where Tharp appeared to have completed a 30-yard pass to wide receiver Jeremy Childs only for it to be nullified because of a pass interference penalty on Childs which pushed the Broncos back 15 yards to their 28-yard-line.
That is when Tharp handed the ball off to Johnson who took off on the longest run of his career, a 72-yard touchdown to give the Broncos a 14-7 lead just 35 seconds into the second quarter.
After another Nevada punt, the Broncos would get the ball back at their 38-yard-line as they would drive down to the Wolfpack 33-yard-line when they lined up for a field goal only for holder Tanyon Bissell to throw a pass for tight end Ryan Putnam, who had lined up all by myself near the sideline, who took it into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown that extended Boise State's lead to 21-7 with 6:06 to go in the second quarter.
The Wolfpack would get the ball back at their 33-yard-line as the first two plays of the drive lost two yards to set up 3rd & 12 when Kaepernick completed a short pass to Mitchell, who then dodged a tackle attempt from Boise State cornerback Orlando Scandrick, and ran it down the field until he was tackled at the Broncos' nine-yard-line after a 58-yard gain.
Three plays later, the Broncos were in the end zone as Lippincott punched it in from one yard out to cut the Wolfpack deficit in half to 21-14 with 4:27 remaining before halftime.
The Broncos would respond with a 5-play, 66-yard drive as Tharp completed all three of his passes for 60 yards on the drive with the last completion being a 25-yard touchdown to tight end Sherm Blaser to push the Boise State lead back to 14 points at 28-14 with 2:33 to go in the first half.
It would not take long for the Wolfpack to get back into the end zone as Kaepernick completed passes of two yards to Lippincott and 14 yards to Adam Bishop before firing a 58-yard touchdown to Mitchell to make an one-possession game at 28-21 with 1:15 to go in the half.
Boise State seemed poised to add some points before the end of the half as they began their ensuing possession at their 42-yard-line only for Tharp to be intercepted by Nevada defensive tackle Mundrae Clifton to give the Wolfpack the ball at the Broncos' 48-yard-line.
However, the Wolfpack could not take advantage of the turnover as the clock ran out in the first half with Boise State ahead 28-21 as Nevada would get the ball to start the second half.
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In his first collegiate start, Colin Kaepernick threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns while running for 177 yards and two touchdowns. |
The Wolfpack's opening possession of the first half would begin with a 32-yard run by Lippincott that with a 15-yard face mask penalty on Boise State safety Austin Smith to give Nevada a 1st down at the Broncos' 33-yard-line.
After three straight runs by backup running back Brandon Fragger gained 22 yards, Lippincott would carry for six yards before punching it in for a five-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 28.
The Broncos would get the ball back at their 41-yard-line as they looked to recapture the lead as they drove down to the Nevada 18-yard-line until a holding penalty would help kill the drive and force Boise State to settle for a 40-yard field goal by Kyle Brotzman to give Boise a 31-28 lead midway through the third quarter.
After forcing the Wolfpack to punt on their ensuing possession, the Broncos would hold the ball for nearly six-and-a-half minutes as they drove 53 yards in 13 plays to set up a 31-yard field goal by Brotzman which extended Boise State's lead to 34-28 with 13:18 to go in the fourth quarter.
Nevada looked like it was going to have to punt it again as they faced a 3rd & 8 at their 31-yard-line when Kaepernick kept the ball himself and 28 yards to give the Wolfpack a 1st down at the Boise State 41-yard-line.
On the very next play, Kaepernick would connect with wide receiver Mike McCoy on a 41-yard touchdown that would tie the game at 34 as Nevada was set to take the lead when Boise State defensive tackle Dan Gore blocked the extra point to game tied.
The blocked extra point would come back to haunt the Wolfpack later in the game.
The Broncos would respond with a five-play, 63-yard drive as Tharp completed three of four passes for 60 yards on the drive which ended with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Tharp to Johnson to put Boise State back on top at 41-34 with 10:37 left in the fourth quarter.
It would only take the Wolfpack 25 seconds to get back into the end zone as Kaepernick started the ensuing drive with a 55-yard run, then ran it in for a nine-yard touchdown to tie the game once again at 41.
The Broncos would get the ball back at their 39-yard-line as it took them three plays to drive into Nevada territory until Johnson lost the football at the end of a 10-yard run as Wolfpack linebacker Ezra Butler forced and recovered the fumble to give the Wolfpack the ball at their 31-yard-line.
The Wolfpack would not put the ball back into the air as they ran the ball nine straight times for 51 yards to set up a 35-yard field Brett Jaekle that would give Nevada its first lead of the game at 44-41 with 3:40 to go in regulation.
Boise State would get great field position to start its next drive as Rashaun Scott would return the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to the Nevada 44-yard-line as the Broncos decided to bleed the clock as they drove down the field as they advanced all the way to the 10-yard-line before sending in the field goal unit to try and send the game into overtime with three seconds to go.
Nevada called timeout in hopes of freezing the kicker but to no avail as Brotzman would calmly make the 27-yard field goal to tie the game at 44 as time expired in regulation, sending the game into overtime.
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Broncos quarterback Taylor Tharp completed 26 of 35 passes for 340 yards and threw four touchdown passes. |
The offensive fireworks would continue in the extra period as it would take the Wolfpack only one play to get into the zone as Lippincott ran it for a 25-yard touchdown to give Nevada a 51-44 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Broncos only needed one play to score a touchdown as Tharp fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to Blaser to tie the game at 51 and send it to a second overtime period.
Once again, the Broncos would score a touchdown on the first play of their ensuing drive as Tharp found Childs for the 25-yard touchdown to give Boise State a 58-51 lead.
The Wolfpack would actually waste a play before scoring a touchdown as Kaepernick would throw an incomplete pass on 1st down then run it from 25 yards out on 2nd down to tie the game at 58 and send it to a third overtime period.
Lippincott would run for 16 yards to begin the third overtime period when the Boise State defense finally rose up and helped make a stop as Kaepernick would throw two incomplete passes, forcing the Wolfpack to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Jaekle to give Nevada a 61-58 lead.
Needing a touchdown to win the game, the Broncos would advance to the Nevada 10-yard-line on two runs by Avery for 15 yards until the freshman running back was dropped for a two-yard-loss which was followed by an incomplete pass to bring up 4th down when Bortzman came on to kick a 29-yard field goal to force a fourth overtime period with the game tied at 61.
It would take the Broncos five plays to get back into the end zone as Johnson would punch it in for a one-yard touchdown which was followed by Tharp completing a swing pass to Avery, who then took into the end zone for the two-point conversion, which was required if a team scored a touchdown beyond the third overtime period, to give Boise State a 69-61 lead.
After an incomplete pass to start the drive, the Wolfpack would keep the ball on the ground as Lippincott carried the ball twice for 11 yards, followed by a seven-yard run by Kaepernick and then a seven-yard touchdown run by Lippincott to make it 69-67 as the Wolfpack prepared to attempt a two-point conversion that if successful would force a fifth overtime period.
That is when Boise State linebacker Tim Brady was able to sack Kaepernick on the two-point conversion to end the game with the Broncos on top 69-67 in a game that featured a combined 136 points and 1,266 yards of total offense.
Boise State would go on to win its next five games until the regular season finale when the Broncos lost to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 39-27 to end Boise State's run of five straight WAC conference championships as the Broncos would finish the season with a 41-38 loss to East Carolina in the Hawaii Bowl to finish with a 10-3 record.
As Nevada, they would keep Kaepernick as the team's starting quarterback as he helped lead the Wolfpack to a third straight bowl appearance, a 23-0 loss to New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl, to finish the season with a 6-7 record.
However, brighter days were ahead for the Wolfpack as Kaepernick remain as the starting quarterback for the next three seasons which included a historic 2009 season in which he, Lippincott, and Vai Taua would all run for at least 1,000 yards, the first time in FBS history that three players from the same team had crossed the 1,000 yard rushing mark.
Then in 2010, the Wolfpack would get a matter of revenge for their 2007 loss as Kaepernick would lead Nevada to a 34-31 overtime victory over the Broncos in the final game of the regular season, which handed Boise State its first loss and ended their hopes of playing for a national championship.