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The latest BCS upgrade happened here Monday night when the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl assisted in crowning the first Irrational Champion.
Let's use the I-word, because we've been a bit numbed by the extravagant caterwauling coming from both sides of the TCU vs. Boise State issue. As you may recall, a lot of BCS haters were greatly agitated when it was decided that two unbeaten teams — each representing a non-BCS conference — would celebrate this regular-season perfection by playing each other instead of some traditional powerhouse from a supposed big-league school. And the pro-BCS crowd has been a bit heavy-handed in insisting that teams from non-BCS leagues aren't worthy of national championship contention.
Anyway, with the sixth-ranked Broncos (14-0) posting a 17-10 triumph over the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs (12-1), we now are obliged to figure out what we learned while watching two unbeaten teams slug it out in a game with no real championship on the line.
Well, the first thing we know is defense wins consolation championships. That's slightly ironic, too, because the team showing up for business as the nation's top defensive team was the one limping off in defeat, and the winner managed one offensive touchdown after leading the nation in scoring. It should be noted that Boise State arrived as no slouch in the department of defense, either, with a total shutdown of Oregon on its résumé and the 16th-best, anti-scoring unit in the land. OK, so the Broncos' foes in the Western Athletic Conference may inspire some sarcasm from the haters, but with time to prepare, Boise demonstrated it can be creative on both sides of the ball.
"All first half, they were doing things we hadn't seen," TCU quarterback Andy Dalton said of the Broncos, whose schemes included moving all-league corner Kyle Wilson to safety against the Horned Frogs' spread formations and confusing their opponent with what looked like a 3-2-6 alignment.
"There was definitely some new blitzes," BSU coach Chris Petersen said, "and some fronts and stunts that we hadn't shown before."
Boise State had to be schematically sharp against stingy TCU, which limited that top scoring offense to 317 total yards from scrimmage, one touchdown and a field goal. For the record, Boise State achieved the game's first score when cornerback Brandyn Thompson plucked his first of two interceptions against Dalton and returned it 51 yards for six.
Thompson, voted the game's outstanding player, sort of defined the curious nature of this event. With two of the nation's top-four scoring offenses combining for two measly touchdowns, the MVP also was burned for the Horned Frog touchdown and gave up a 34-yard catch by Jimmy Young.
So, what else did we learn? The next lesson is fairly simple. We now know that if you're not going to be recognized as a national champion despite winning all 14 of your games, go ahead and fake it. The fake that ruled the night was supplied by Petersen, who — with just under nine minutes remaining in regulation and the score tied at 10-10 — had punter Kyle Brotzman flip a 29-yard pass to Kyle Efaw out of punt formation on fourth down from his own 31-yard line.
"Well, they actually fooled us because they called that same fake-off, they had put the guy in the slot," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "And what they did is they put him on the line of scrimmage later on. That's what the fake was.
"So they outcoached us on that play. We had planned for it and worked on it. They called it off once. But, like I said, you gotta give 'em a little bit of credit."
Said Petersen, whose double-bagged collection of tricks served Boise State well in a victory over mighty Oklahoma during the closing stages of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl: "I think that's what they expect from us, so we're happy to deliver."
During Boise State's Irrational Championship march, we also seem to have figured out that outstanding teams stick to the game plan. This means that despite the Broncos' inability to spring running backs Jeremy Avery and Doug Martin for more than 2.6 yards per carry, those two still combined to run the ball 28 times. This can be considered using the run as an empty promise, but not giving up on the ground game enabled Boise State to keep TCU and pass-rush ace Jerry Hughes off balance enough to keep their QB upright.
Hughes, widely considered a big threat to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, had a few close calls, but Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore was protected from any official harm by a line that led the nation in fewest sacks allowed per pass.
Another thing we found out is that even an irrational championship can be secured by teams that gut it out when things are far from perfect. As evidence, we offer Moore, who led the nation in passing efficiency, but finished the first quarter by completing just five of his 11 pitches. In addition to fighting a team with as much pluck as TCU, Boise State made enough big plays on both sides of the ball to win.
Perhaps the most important lesson occurred on TCU's last possession which — thanks to Wilson's work on punt coverage — began at the Horned Frogs' 1-yard line with 1:06 left on the clock. A few plays later, TCU was sitting on the BSU 30, suggesting that prevent defense can't secure any kind of championship. Unfortunately for the Frogs and their consolation-seeking fans, Dalton's next pass was deflected by Thompson and picked off by teammate Winston Venable.
Game over. Fourteen-win season complete, and an argument that unbeaten Boise State should be in the discussion as national champion, right?
"Probably not," Efaw admitted.
Even though the Broncos can't do any more than win the games on their schedule, there are some things you just can't fake.
