BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…September 21, 1996:
Led by Capital High graduate Jake Plummer, Arizona State lays a totally unexpected 19-0 shutout on two-time defending national champion Nebraska in Sun Devil Stadium. Plummer directed an 80-yard touchdown drive on ASU’s first possession, finishing it by dancing out of a sack and delivering a 25-yard scoring pass. Then the defense, led by his close friend, the late Pat Tillman, took over—forcing an NCAA record-tying three safeties. Plummer went 20-of-36 for 292 yards and became the Sun Devil’s career passing leader in the process that night. The stunning upset snapped the Cornhuskers’ 26-game winning streak.
Two weeks later, Arizona State—then ranked No. 5 in the country—hosted Boise State and routed the Broncos 56-7. Plummer played one drive into the second half, while his successor at Capital, Bryan Harsin, got some snaps in toward the end of the game for Boise State. The Sun Devils would go undefeated in the regular season and win the Pac-10 championship, with Plummer being named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year. He was third in 1996 Heisman Trophy voting behind Florida’s Danny Wuerffel and Iowa State’s Troy Davis, and he and ASU nearly took down Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
Plummer, who was born in Boise, became starting quarterback for the Sun Devils midway through his true freshman year in 1993, and by the time that magical senior season rolled around, he was a full-blown star. Plummer wasn’t selected until the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft, but he was taken by the Arizona Cardinals, who played in Sun Devil Stadium at the time. His 10-year NFL career, split between the Cards and the Denver Broncos, could have been longer. But by 1997, he just wanted to do something else.
Plummer still has a huge affinity for Boise—he was the featured speaker at the ninth annual Idaho Youth Sports Commission Dinner and Auction back in April in Boise. The IYSC is a cause near and dear to his heart. But he’s rooted in Colorado now, and his passion is mushrooms. Plummer, who’ll turn 49 in December, is a co-founder of MyCOlove Farm, which has been operating about 30 miles outside of Denver since 2001. MyCOlove sells locally-grown medicinal and culinary mushrooms and mushroom extracts 30 miles, and Jake swears by them.
(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.)
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