Broncos & Knights
Boise State faces Central Florida in a marque Group of 5 matchup between two programs that laid the foundation for change during the BCS and CFP eras respectively.
Boise State of the Mountain West plays Central Florida of the America conference in one of the premier games tonight in College Football’s opening weekend.
Yes, Minnesota does host No. 4 Ohio State and two ranked Pac-12 teams see action, but this game between Boise and UCF is just as important and interesting.
No, neither team is ranked to begin the season nor are they from a Power 5 conference, but both schools embody the spirit of college football. Each squad gives fans belief that anyone can beat anyone on Saturday. That is does not matter about the stars of your individual recruits; the small town you are from or the conference you are in.
It’s a reminder that you play to win the game—why? Because you can. And both Boise State and UCF have proved that time after time as each team has come to define the role of the underdog in the BCS and CFP eras respectively due to three unique program traits:
Scheduling tough, years ahead of their biggest upsets
Postseason experience
Outstanding quarterback play
We will examine how these schools became underdog heroes in the lens of these three traits, and why they paved the way for change in the way college football not only determines a national champion, but also how ‘smaller’ Group of 5 schools are perceived.
Boise State
Early in the BCS era, the Broncos joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2001 after the Big West stopped sponsoring college football. They went 8-4 and were not invited to a bowl game. Over the next nine seasons, the Broncos would claim at least a share of the WAC eight times; go undefeated twice; and become a staple in the BCS discussion with their annual power upsets.
In their decade in the WAC, Boise State had a 114-12 record that included legendary upsets over Oregon, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech just to name a few. However, the Broncos had been scheduling big names schools since the late ‘90s-early 2000s by playing the likes of South Carolina, Washington, Oregon State, and Arkansas.
They beat Iowa State in the ‘02 Humanitarian Bowl and TCU in the ‘03 Ft. Worth Bowl before losing close to No. 10 Louisville 40-44 in the ‘04 Liberty Bowl. The Broncos had a tough ‘05 campaign losing to Georgia, Oregon State and then Boston College in the MPC Computers Bowl.
One of the main guys to benefit from all that experience was quarterback Jared Zabransky who had been redshirted in 2002 and served as a backup in ‘03. By the time Boise was ready for their magical 2006 season, Zabransky was a third-year starter.
Boise State ran the table in 2006, and then pulled off the greatest college football upset at the time (it would be surpassed by Appalachian State in the ‘07 season opener when the Mountaineers upset Michigan 34-32 at the Big House) by defeating Oklahoma 43-42 in overtime at the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
The game was legendary. First Adrian Peterson helped spark the Sooners to come back from 18 down and tie the game at 28 with 1:26 remaining. Then the Sooners got a pick-six to take their first lead of the game with 1:02 left.
Boise then went called hook n’ ladder on fourth and 18 to score the tying touchdown with seven seconds to play. Then there was the halfback pass to score a touchdown on fourth and two in overtime with the gusty Statue of Liberty game-winning two-point conversion right afterwards.
The victory legitimized every non-power team in college football and gave hope that even they could compete for a national championship. Something that Boise State tried to do for four straight years.
With quarterback Kellen Moore, the Broncos finished 12-1 in 2008; 14-0 in 2009; 12-1 in 2010; and 12-1 in 2011 in their first season in the Mountain West.
In 2008, a perfect Boise was passed over for a perfect Utah who ended up upsetting Alabama in the ‘09 Sugar Bowl. In 2009, an undefeated Boise and TCU were unfairly pitted against each other in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl, because BCS organizers were afraid of having two key upsets. Boise won that game 17-10.
In 2010, the Broncos were heartbroken in late November when they missed a 26-yard field goal to beat Nevada in regulation, and then missed a 29-yard field goal to lose in overtime. A perfect Boise—even with their strength of schedule— probably does not jump an unbeaten Auburn or Oregon for a spot in the national title game. And, as it were, TCU was also undefeated and ultimately won the Rose Bowl over Wisconsin.
That would have been interesting, but it would have been even more interesting if Boise State could have pulled off a perfect season in 2011. That year, LSU beat Alabama in the regular season, but then faced them again in the national title game due to Oklahoma State, Oregon, Stanford, and Oklahoma all losing in November.
What also helped the Crimson Tide get in was Boise State’s 35-36 loss to TCU. The Broncos had a shot for a game-winning field goal, but the 39-yard attempt—and with it a conference title and perfect season— sailed wide right.
One of the biggest mysteries will be what would have the computers done if Boise stayed perfect that included a win over SEC runner up Georgia?
We will never know. But if the ‘06 season provided legitimacy for all programs, then 2011 was a main catalyst for a four-team playoff. Although, smaller schools are still disrespected in this format. And that is where Central Florida comes in.
Central Florida
The Golden Knights built a program to shine on the national stage using the same formula that Boise State did: schedule tough, build up postseason experience, and compete for conference titles with a great quarterback.
Let’s back up to Orlando in the late BCS era in 2009. UCF finished 8-5, but played No. 9 Miami and No. 2 Texas along the way. In 2010, the Knights won the Conference USA championship and Liberty Bowl victory over Georgia to finish with an 11-3 record.
The quarterback beneficiary was Blake Bortles, who redshirted in 2010 and by 2013 was a third-year starter. The Knights went 5-7 in 2011 and 10-4 in 2012, which included a championship game loss to Tulsa.
In 2013, UCF beat Penn State and their only loss was to No. 12 South Carolina by three (who beat Missouri that year but ultimately still came in second in the SEC East). The Knights also beat No. 8 Louisville and won the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship.
They then won the Fiesta Bowl over No. 6 Baylor, despite being only ranked No. 15. This was vitally important because in doing so, they legitimized not only themselves but an entirely new conference.
Fast forward to 2017, the Knights rallied behind quarterback McKenzie Milton to run the table, win the American and upset Auburn in the Peach Bowl. A 12-0 record was never even considered by the Playoff selection committee as UCF ranked 12th and both Alabama and Georgia qualified for the Playoff despite both losing to Auburn during the season.
The Knights claimed a national championship anyway for their 13-0 perfect season, and got people talking about the need for playoff expansion once more. UCF ran the table again to win the American again in 2018, but lost Milton to a knee injury in the regular season finale. The Knights would lose a one-score game to LSU in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl.
After a wild, albeit shortened, 2020 season the 2021 pre-season rankings seem to give more respect to the Group of 5 schools due to the performances of Cincinnati, Louisiana, Liberty and Coastal Carolina (and to some extent BYU) last year.
UCF and Boise State helped build the foundation for the small schools with historic performances, about a decade apart, that shifted the CFB championship landscape to what it is today and where it is still trying to go.
That is why this game is important, and hopefully the performance between two historically lovable and spunky squads can live up to the hype. To set one (or even both) of these teams—and their quarterbacks (BSU’s Hank Bachmeier or UCF’s Dillon Gabriel’s)—for a season of success.