BOISE, Idaho — This Day In Sports…September 24, 2004, 20 years ago today:
Boise State and BYU play on the blue turf for the first time, and it goes down to the final seconds. The scoring started with an Andy Avalos safety on Cougars quarterback John Beck in the first quarter. The Broncos went on to build a 16-0 lead, but BYU clawed back to take a 27-22 lead late in the third quarter. It was with 3:42 left that Jared Zabransky hit T.J. Acree with a 44-yard touchdown pass to give Boise State the lead back. Then the Broncos had to endure a 38-yard field goal attempt by the Cougars’ Matt Payne with 19 seconds remaining. Payne went wide left, and the Broncos won it, 28-27.
BYU was supposed to be bigger and more physical in the trenches than Boise State, the Broncos’ 50-12 win in Provo the year before notwithstanding. The Cougars promised to put more pressure on Zabransky than he had previously seen that season. Well, BYU did register six sacks on Zabransky, but the Cougars were able to rush for only 25 net yards on the Boise State defense.
One of the most striking things about the game was Payne’s role on special teams. He was also BYU’s punter, and he put a couple of hellacious hits on Boise State star returner Chris Carr. Did that take too much out of Payne on the potential game-winning field goal? It was pointed out at the time that the “Y” wasn’t what it used to be. As a result, the Broncos dropped from No. 21 to No. 23 in the AP Poll that Sunday. It was also pointed out that it was Dirk Koetter’s Arizona State Sun Devils taking over Boise State’s old No. 21 spot after beating Oregon State 27-14.
Interestingly enough, the victory over BYU extended Boise State’s winning streak against members of the Mountain West to eight in a row. It had started in 1998, the last season those eight schools were in the WAC, with an upset of Utah in Salt Lake City. After that came another win over the Utes, two against New Mexico, two over Wyoming, and the 2003 triumph in Provo. The run would reach 11 straight before a 17-16 loss to TCU in the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl. It was 2010 when the Broncos finally got their Mountain West invitation.
(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.)
