Fiesta Bowl

Wow. Boise State 43, Oklahoma University 42. Watching the hapless Oakland Raiders this season, I thought I'd lost my love of football, but the Fiesta Bowl reminded me what a great game it is. Boise State won because they did not play conservatively. They played with boldness and they pulled it off. Their last play of regulation was a pass with a lateral designed in it, and it worked for a touchdown. Their last play of OT was, I think, a Statue of Liberty play. It was like a Hollywood script in which the hero goes for broke against the odds and wins.

It takes guts to call trick plays when the game is on the line. But as this game showed, trick plays work when the defense is not expecting them. It's all about deception and surprise, rather like warfare.

How sweet it is to see a game won by offensive daring. Boise State, a team without fear! I should give credit to OU also for coming back from 8 points down to tie the game with a touchdown and a two-point play. The momentum shifted so many times at the end that it was breathtaking. Remarkable game, certainly one of the best college games I have ever seen, right up there with Doug Flutie's Hail Mary.

BTW, I like their OT rules better than the NFL's. The NFL should rethink their OT rules. Sudden Death is often anticlimactic because it becomes a game about getting field position to kick a field goal. In Sudden Death the most important play is the coin toss. BORING! Set it up so that both teams have at least one chance to score in OT. More excitement.