NCAA Football 09 Playoffs

[SW Iowa Guy]

Let's get this thread back on track........more games.

[TheGamingChef]

HAPPY VALLEY NOT SO HAPPY
Cinderella Broncos Shock Penn State in OT

Jubilant Boise State players spill onto the field following Bush Hamdan's 12-yard touchdown pass to Titus Young in overtime.

Ian Johnson thought he already had it all.

He had a Fiesta Bowl victory over a BCS conference champion. He had multiple WAC titles. He even had a beautiful wife, former Boise State cheerleader.

And now, he has a playoff victory for the Broncos. In one of the closest games in recent memory, the ninth-seeded Boise State Broncos eked out a victory against #8 seed Penn State, 20-17, in overtime.

"Give all the credit in the world to Penn State. What a great group of athletes," said Boise State head coach Chris Petersen. "We were lucky to come out with a win. Play this game ten times, they probably win half of them. It was that close."

Boise State took solid control of the game early at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions took the opening kickoff, only to go three and out. This was followed by an 11 play drive by the Broncos that spanned 73 yards for a touchdown, capped by a short Ian Johnson dive. Penn State's offenses sputtered again on their next drive and was forced to punt again. On BSU's first play from scrimmage, Johnson took the ball 61 yards down the field into the PSU endzone. Before the fans had even settled into their seats, it was 14-0 Broncos.

The action slowed down for about a quarter until part way through the 2nd. Daryll Clark led a long Penn State drive down to the Boise 21 yard line before being intercepted at the 8 yard line. But as the Penn State faithful began to lose hope, Boise's senior tailback made one of his few mistakes of the night. Johnson's fumble ended up in the arms of linebacker Tyrell Sales. The Bronco defense held firm, and Kevin Kelly was sent on for a 32-yard field goal attempt with less than twenty seconds in the first half. The normally accurate Kelly pulled the attempt wide left, however, and the teams went into the locker rooms still at 14-0.

"We faced adversity at halftime," said legendary Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno. "We challenged the boys to go out and never give up and to play for those fans that came out to see 'em. And they did. They never gave up. Regardless of that score, I'm proud of these boys."

The second half began with the teams trading more punts until Penn State was able to set up for a 52 yard field goal attempt by Kelly again. Kelly, visibly upset after his first miss, badly pushed his second attempt wide left and was seen throwing his helmet onto the ground on the sideline.

With under a minute left in the third quarter, JoePa and his staff resorted to some trickeration. QB Daryll Clark pitched the ball to speedster Derrick Williams coming around the edge on a reverse. Williams was hit hard by the Boise front seven and the ball popped loose. Bronco defensive tackle Phillip Edwards, already with two sacks and six tackles, jumped on the ball which seemingly sealed the deal for the Cinderella story to continue.

But Penn State lineman Josh Gaines would have none of that. Hamdan's first down pass attempt to Ian Johnson in the flat was picked by Gaines and the Nittany Lions had new life. In a do-or-die situation for the Lions, down 14 with under four minutes to play, Daryll Clark led a 56-yard drive into the end zone, capped with a Derrick Williams seven-yard touchdown catch with just over three minutes to play.

Boise State's offense was only able to muster one first down before punting the ball away, up 14-7. The Nittany Lions took over at their own 20 yard line with just over two minutes to play. But the Penn State offense sputtered to a halt. Clark's pass attempt on 4th and 6 from the 24 fell incomplete, and Boise took over on downs.

The Broncos attempted to run the clock out with Johnson, but a holding penalty negated a first-down rush and brought the ball back to the 34-yard line. Boise was only able to gain three more yards before fourth down from the 31. Coach Petersen elected to send his sophomore kicker, Kyle Brotzman, out for his first attempt of the game. In front of a white-out of nearly 108,000 screaming fans, the Penn State field goal block team came through, swatting Brotzman's attempt to the ground in one of the most thrilling plays of the season. With 1:01 left to play, no timeouts, and 62 yards to go, Daryll Clark led his offense onto the field.

The Nittany Lions utilized the sidelines, getting intermediate gains while stopping the clock. A 26-yard pass over the middle to Williams with 0:33 left brought Penn State to the Boise 36. A 13-yard pass to Deon Butler and 7-yard gain to Jordan Norwood followed. With 0:14 left in the game, Penn State spiked the ball on the Boise State 16 yard line.

It was then that Daryll Clark completed the most spectacular pass of his life, a phenomenal threading of the needle over the middle on a post route to Jordan Norwood. Norwood pulled the ball out of the air right on the goal line and was immediately thrown to the ground by cornerback Kyle Wilson... but Norwood held on to the ball. Beaver Stadium exploded in sound as the clock read 0:05 remaining in regulation. Kelly came onto the field for a chance at a sort of redemption, and knocked through the PAT to even the score at 14. Time expired on the ensuing squib kick.

It was overtime in Happy Valley.

Boise State won the toss, and forced the Nittany Lions to play offense first. In one of the most shocking moments of the game, two consecutive holding penalties brought Penn State back to their own 45-yard line, facing a 1st and 30. Two straight incomplete passes had many home fans hoping to just get set up in field goal range on 3rd down. A deep strike from Clark to Williams for a 23-yard gain followed, and once again Kelly was sent onto the field. Kelly's kick was right down the middle this time, as Penn State took a 17-14 lead.

Bush Hamdan then started at his own 25, knowing that a touchdown would win, a field goal would continue the game, and an interception would end his football career. He made the most of the situation. On first down, Hamdan threw a 13-yard strike down to the 12 to receiver Vinny Perretta.

"It was the hardest thrown ball I've ever caught, bar none," said Perretta. "My hands still hurt."

With a first down from the 12, Hamdan decided he'd had enough. This time, he found Titus Young on a fade in the corner of the end zone. As the capacity stadium stood on in shock, the elated visitors stormed the field. "20-17 FINAL" blared from the scoreboard.

"I still can't believe this is real," said running back Ian Johnson, named game MVP after his 22 rushes for 107 yards and two touchdowns. "To win in Happy Valley against the Big 10 champ? To get a rematch against Oklahoma? We got something to prove. I just thank God for this."

Penn State will finish the season with an 11-2 mark. Boise State improves to 13-0, the first undefeated team to reach 13 wins this season. In a rematch of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, where the Broncos pulled out the most improbable of victories, Boise will face the #1 ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma Sooners in the quarterfinals at a site to be determined.

UPDATED BRACKET:

#1 Oklahoma vs. #9 Boise State (Site TBD)

#12 Georgia Tech @ #5 USC
#13 Virginia Tech @ #4 Alabama


#14 East Carolina @ #3 Texas
#11 Cincinnati @ #6 Utah

#10 Ohio State @ #7 Texas Tech
#15 Buffalo @ #2 Florida

[rollinphat]

dumb question and yeah I'm out of the loop, but how did you get the ESPN score on the picture for the troy/oklahoma game?

i've also seen one of a ESPN score that really looks like what ESPN would do when going to a commercial break.

is there a "program" or a "method to the madness" to do this or do you just have to be a edit master?

[TheGamingChef]

Quote: Originally Posted by rollinphat

dumb question and yeah I'm out of the loop, but how did you get the ESPN score on the picture for the troy/oklahoma game? i've also seen one of a ESPN score that really looks like what ESPN would do when going to a commercial break. is there a "program" or a "method to the madness" to do this or do you just have to be a edit master?

I googled for OU pictures and found it. You can find it with "Sooner kid crying" search. Then I downloaded it as a JPEG and edited it in Paint. I thought it was a really bad editing job, but hey, I'm glad you liked it. I wasn't going for style points. I do think there is some template that some of the better Dynasty graphics people use but I don't know what it is.

Don't expect the GT-USC game anytime soon - I am hoping to get it up by Saturday though.