Folks, the college bowl system is a joke. The BCS is a travesty. And we still have to wait a week for a national title game for which there was no playoff.

 

We're with you.

 

But every now and then, what legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson called the "Grand Ol' Game" of college football gives you one of those magical events that makes you think, if only for a moment, that the entire dysfunctional cluster-f*ck of a system might be worth keeping around.

 

We got one of those moments in the wee hours of Jan. 2, 2007, at the end of the Fiesta Bowl.

 

You can find the game scorebook for all the details. Better yet, check out the Idaho newspapers, which are essentially devoted to what, before the amazing drama of the game itself, was being dubbed the biggest sporting event in state history.

 

Suffice it to say that:

 

* Upstart Boise State shocked perennial national power Oklahoma in overtime, 43-42.

 

* Boise State led 28-20 with 1:30 to play. Oklahoma scored a TD and 2-point converstion to tie the game. Then, after trailing the whole night, the Sooners returned an interception with a minute left to go ahead 35-28.

 

* You could feel the wind come out of the entire state of Idaho when Oklahoma took the lead.

 

* Boise State tied the game with 7 seconds in regulation on ... this is not a misprint ... the good ol' hook-and-lateral play. It went for 50 yards on 4th-and-18.

 

* Oklahoma scored a TD on its very first overtime play. It looked like bye-bye time for Boise.

 

* Boise State scored on its first OT possession. Instead of kicking the extra point, the Broncos opted to go for the 2-point conversion. None of this pussy-footing back-and-forth OT crap. Win or lose, they were going to end the game right here.

 

* Boise State scored the winning points when they ... this is not a misprint ... ran what we believe is the first successful Statue of Liberty play in the last 70 years of football. Quarterback Jared Zabransky stood in the backfield for what seemed like an eternity before slipping the ball to running back Ian Johnson, who ran in untouched for the 2-point conversion.

 

* Johnson, the guy who scored the winning conversion, a sophomore running back from California, is best known ... this is not a misprint ... for knitting. He knits caps for Boise State players and fans.

 

* The donkeys at the NCAA cracked down on Johnson this year for selling his hand-knitted caps.

 

* Johnson led the entire nation with 25 TDs this season.

 

* Johnson, as he was interviewed after the game, literally got down on his knee and proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend on national television.

 

* She accepted.

 

* The Broncos ended the season 13-0, one of two undefeated teams in America ... and will not get a shot at the national title.

 

It's a shot after last night that they certainly deserve.

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