It’s a memory Oklahoma fans might try to forget.
The 2007 Fiesta Bowl was the night Boise State used the hook and lateral and statue of liberty plays to haunt Sooner dreams.
The Broncos pulled off the stunner that night over Oklahoma, 43-42, when Boise State running back Ian Johnson took a 2-point conversion handoff and ran it in untouched in overtime.
Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops sat down with then-Boise State head coach Chris Petersen on FOX to revisit that night.
The 2007 Fiesta Bowl is one of the greatest games in college football history 🗽🐴@CoachBobStoops and @CoachPeteUW relive the epic game between Oklahoma and @BroncoSportsFB pic.twitter.com/Uf4knNu12L
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 6, 2021
“Alright, Chris, I’m going to come clean right now. I haven’t watched this game for 15 years, so I haven’t watched it since it happened. I told my wife on the plane the next day, ‘You do realize we’re going to see those last couple plays the rest of our life,'” Stoops said.
Stoops was right. It’s regarded as one of the classic college football games in history. Being on the wrong end of it, that means Oklahoma fans have endured their fair share of highlights they would rather not revisit.
Petersen said he thought about trying a 2-point conversion in the final moments of regulation after Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky and company delivered the hook and lateral touchdown.
“I tell you right here, so it’s so much pandemonium and I’m thinking, ‘We’ve got to end this. Let’s go for two.’ So, I’m like initially going, ‘Let’s go for two. Let’s go for two.’ And then people are hearing me finally and they’re going, ‘You want to go for two? You want to go for two?’ And then I’m like, ‘No, no, no. We’re going for one.’ Because I knew, it can’t go on too long,” Petersen said.
Petersen said they wanted to run the statue of liberty play earlier on in the game but hadn’t yet. He also touched on one of their fears with running the play.
“You look at it closely, too. Zabransky and Ian Johnson who scores, the running back, their feet almost hit. They did click in practice and we had tried to tell them, ‘Hey, make sure you get clearance.’ He could’ve fallen down there and you know who’s looking like the biggest loser of all time,” Petersen said as he rewatched the walk-off winner for his Broncos.
What a different world that would’ve been if Zabransky and Johnson collided in the backfield and the upset never was.
Alas, Stoops was quick to give credit where credit was due.
“No, it was your day. It was a great job, man,” Stoops said.
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