BOISE, Idaho — This Day In Sports…November 5, 1994, 30 years ago today:
The latest showdown in a series of showdowns for Boise State’s “Magic Carpet Ride” squad, as All-Big Sky quarterback Dave Dickenson leads top-ranked Montana into Bronco Stadium. The Broncos came into the game at 7-1 after a 38-10 win at Montana State the week before, but the Grizzlies were a different animal. Boise State had stayed with them the previous year before falling 38-24, as quarterback Tony Hilde and wide receiver Ryan Ikebe had burned their redshirt years on the same day in Missoula. But that Broncos team had finished 3-8.
This Montana team was better than the 1993 version, and Dickenson was putting up pinball numbers. But by the first Saturday of November, Boise State had developed a supreme confidence under beloved coach Pokey Allen and his staff. On the opening drive of the game, the Broncos drove 68 yards in just four plays, capped by a 38-yard touchdown pass from Hilde to Ikebe. Boise State would get 100-yard games from Ikebe and fellow wideout Jarret Hausske and 91 yards on the ground from star tailback K.C. Adams.
A leaping Rashid Gayle interception set the defensive tone later in the first quarter, and Boise State defensive end Joe O’Brien led a sack attack on Dickenson, who had to leave the game in the fourth quarter. The Broncos had an incredible 13 sacks on the afternoon—including 3.0 from O’Brien, 2.5 from both Brian Smith and Chris Wing, and 2.0 from Stefan Reid. Jason Payne and Tim Foley also had picks. Boise State improved to 8-1 by routing Montana 38-14.
Unbeknownst to anybody, there were six more weeks left in the season, as Boise State went on to win the Big Sky championship in a 27-24 victory over Idaho two weeks later, followed by three more wins on the blue turf in the Division I-AA Playoffs. The ride wasn’t stopped until December 17, when Youngstown State and coach Jim Tressel stifled a banged-up bunch of Broncos 28-14 in Huntington, WV. The 1994 team is holding its 30th anniversary reunion this week, and the RSVP list is huge, including former staffers like offensive coordinator Al Borges and defensive coordinator Tom Mason.
(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.)
