BOISE, Idaho — This Day In Sports…December 13, 1980:
Before a crowd that for almost 20 years was considered the loudest in Bronco Stadium history, Boise State shocks the fabled Grambling Tigers 14-9 in the semi-finals of the Division I-AA playoffs. The two days before the game were sunny with highs of 40. When gameday dawned, fog hung around the upper deck of the stadium, and trees were coated with hoarfrost. That only added to the Broncos’ homefield advantage. Knowing it would be cold no matter what for the 11 a.m. regional kickoff on ABC, they practiced at that time every day during the week (mostly shirtless).
Grambling, led by legendary coach Eddie Robinson and its “Trees Of Terror” defensive line, was vastly bigger than Boise State, and the Tigers taunted the Broncos at the pregame banquet. But on Saturday, all the Grambling players could think about was the cold. The temperature was a manageable 25, but it just looked frigid out there. The Tigers dominated the game statistically and scored an early touchdown, but they were psyched out by the cold and coughed up four costly turnovers. The Broncos made the most of a rare first-half opportunity, with Joe Aliotti hitting Cedric Minter with a 31-yard TD pass to tie the game 7-7.
Most of the third quarter was spent in Boise State territory, but when the period ended, it was still 7-7. It was then that the crowd knew the Broncos had a chance, and the bedlam began. Then on the second play of the fourth quarter, Boise State pulled out a flea-flicker—63 yards from Aliotti to Kipp Bedard (who dragged future Dallas Cowboy Emerson Walls the final 10 yards into the end zone). That shook the foundation of the 10-year-old facility now known as Albertsons Stadium.
From there, amidst the roar, the Boise State defense hung on for dear life. I was the public address announcer at the time (Bob Rosenthal’s predecessor, don’t ya know). After Bedard scored the fourth-quarter touchdown, I may as well have left the microphone off. Nobody could hear me. Grambling, which two weeks earlier had played rival Southern before 70,000 in the Louisiana Superdome, appealed to the officials to quiet the crowd of 17,300. The Broncos were penalized for delay of game (back when crowd noise could be an infraction). The penalty didn’t slow the fans down one iota.
Twice the Tigers got inside the Boise State 10-yard line, and twice they were repelled. With 38 seconds left, Aliotti danced out of the back of his own end zone, taking an intentional safety to give the Broncos defense at least some semblance of field position. Back came Grambling, but Boise State safety Rick Woods ended the drama with an interception. The Tigers had dominated in first downs, 21-11. They had rushed for over 300 yards. They had held the Broncos to 228 total yards. But it was Boise State heading for Sacramento to face Eastern Kentucky the following week in the national championship game.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
