BOISE, Idaho — This Day In Sports…September 17, 1994, 30 years ago today:
Boise State’s magical 1994 season is kick-started in the third game of the year as the Broncos upset Nevada, their only Division I-A opponent, 37-27. The first quarter was a good omen on the blue turf. A 24-0 lead will do that. Boise State scored on a flea-flicker that went from quarterback Tony Hilde to wide receiver Jarrett Hausske, and Rashid Gayle spoiled a methodical Wolf Pack drive with an 87-yard interception return. The Pack’s speed was evident as Gayle was dragged down short of the goal line, making it what is still the longest non-scoring pick in Broncos history. But that was beside the point.
Offensive coordinator Al Borges, one of five assistants who had come to Boise State with coach Pokey Allen from Portland State in 1993, further emptied the playbook right before halftime, calling a hook-and-lateral that worked like the one in the Fiesta Bowl 12 years later. Hilde threw to Michael Richmond, and he pitched to K.C. Adams, who finished the 37-yard TD to stop a 17-0 Nevada run, electrifying a near-capacity crowd of 21,669. The Broncos were outgained 538 yards to 348, but their defense hung tough in the red zone (aided by a second Gayle interception at the goal line in the second quarter).
Adams, who also scored on runs of one yard and 26 yards, was at the core of the Boise State offense that season, rushing for 1,275 yards in 11 games (it was before postseason games were counted in statistics). Adams played just that one season for the Broncos. Nevada would go on to a 9-2 season. Boise State would win its first Big Sky title since 1980 by ending Idaho’s 12-game winning streak over the Broncos in the regular season finale. They’d finish 13-2 after a trip to the Division I-AA national championship game.
Things were sure different three decades ago. The Wolf Pack had moved to Division I-A and the Big West in 1992, four years before Boise State would make the jump. And the Pack had pounded the Broncos 38-10 the season before in Reno. It was Boise State that was envious of Nevada, not the other way around as it is now. After that 1993 rout, legendary coach Chris Ault (then in his first year as Wolf Pack athletic director) wondered aloud whether Nevada should continue its series with the Broncos if they weren’t going to be more competitive. Now, the Pack have lost 17 of their last 19 games against Boise State.
(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.)
