Life after Boise State
Fiesta Bowl a hard pill to swallow, but Sooners still have the Big 12 championship
Fiesta Bowl a hard pill to swallow, but Sooners still Big 12 champs

By Berry Tramel

Published: July 24, 2007

SAN ANTONIO — Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib says someday he will tell his children about the epic contest, the greatest sporting event that ever came down his pike.

A game in which he didn't play. A game he only watched on television.

The Oklahoma-Boise State Fiesta Bowl.

For those who think the Sooners suffer shame, who think OU is stigmatized by the overtime loss to a foe from the lowly Western Athletic Conference, meet the boys of the Big 12, who Monday couldn't stop raving about the 43-42 donnybrook.

Shame? Nonsense, Talib said standing on a ballroom balcony at the St. Anthony Wyndham, site of Big 12 football media days.

"They should be happy,” Talib said. "They got 'em an ESPY for that game. I know if I played for Oklahoma, I wouldn't be upset at all.”

Well, let's not get silly. Losing to Boise State was no great source of pride for the Sooners. But neither does it seem to be a stain.

"Any loss is a tough pill to swallow for me,” said OU cornerback Marcus Walker, who for a moment made perhaps the biggest defensive play in Sooner history, returning an interception 33 yards for a touchdown that gave the Sooners a 35-28 lead with 1:02 left in the Fiesta.

Tight end Joe Jon Finley said he caught a little Boise backlash from friends back home in Arlington, Texas, but squelched it fast.

"Show 'em that Big 12 championship ring,” Finley said.

A man after Bob Stoops' own heart. For eight months, Stoops has refused to consider a Fiesta fallout.

The Sooners joined the wrong side of sports Cinderellas. For every George Mason, there's a Connecticut. For every New York Jets, there's a Baltimore Colts. For every Texas Western, there's a Kentucky.

But Stoops rejects OU's fairy tale role. And he's got an ally in Nebraska coach Bill Callahan, who Monday said of Boise State, "I don't consider them a lower-level team. They're talented. Look at Fresno. Same conference. Went toe to toe with USC in the Coliseum a couple of years ago. Anything can happen.”

As a result, Boise State landed on everything from ESPN to EA Sports' NCAA football video game cover.

"I never find any shame whatsoever in competing,” Stoops said. "The only way to avoid that kind of feeling is to not compete.

"In the end, getting on the bus — and I said to my wife the next day — you hurt, you don't like to lose, but that Big 12 championship trophy is still in our office.”

Stoops says there never is a carryover, pro or con, from the previous year. Says it's a new team and a blank slate.

I disagree. Tradition counts; in college football, it counts heavy, and what happened most recently counts most.

You can't tell me the Florida State Orange Bowl didn't bolster the Sooners who returned for the 2001 season. Can't tell me USC's 55-19 waxing in the Orange Bowl didn't cast doubt in the holdouts of 2005.

But truth is, the carryover from Boise State doesn't have to be bad. The Sooners played in one of the most memorable games in recent times. OU didn't lose it. Boise State won it.

"In the end, all you can do is compete,” Stoops said. "If you compete enough, you're not going to win 'em all. I don't care what anybody says. I am always proud to compete.”

Nebraska linebacker Bo Ruud caught the second half of the Fiesta Bowl, after the Cornhuskers played Auburn earlier on New Year's Day.

"Boise State won that game,” Ruud said. "They made some unbelievable plays. That's why people will be watching that game forever. That's an ESPN Classic the day after it happens.”

You get no debate from Kansas' Aqib Talib.

"Best game I ever witnessed,” Talib said. "Football, basketball, baseball. Anything.

"I've got a story to tell my kids. ‘Y'all missed the best game ever.' I don't think there'll be another one like that.”

Your thoughts!