As soon as the matchup was announced, the 2007 Fiesta Bowl was billed as a David-versus-Goliath matchup between mighty Big 12 Conference champion Oklahoma and the upstart mid-major Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State.

Oklahoma brought its history as one of the winningest college football programs. In coach Bob Stoops' eighth season, the Sooners were ranked seventh despite early-season losses to Oregon by a point and to Texas by 18 in the annual Red River Shootout. They had run off eight consecutive wins and were a solid favorite in the first Fiesta Bowl played at the new University of Phoenix Stadium.

Boise State was a junior college until 1968, when it graduated to being a four-year university. It won a Division 1-AA national championship in 1980 and moved up to Division 1-A only 10 years earlier before its Fiesta Bowl bid.

First-year coach Chris Petersen led the ninth-ranked Broncos to a 12-0 season and their first appearance in a major New Year's Day bowl game.

The Broncos, only the second non-BCS team to play on New Year's Day after Utah in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, took on their underdog role with relish.

"We felt like we had 25 guys that were as good as any roster in the country," remembered Boise State starting quarterback Jared Zabransky.

While the odds might have seemed stacked in Oklahoma's favor, the game became a back-and-forth battle.

The Broncos scored twice in the first quarter and once in the third, taking a 21-10 halftime lead. Midway through the third quarter, the Broncos added another touchdown as Marty Tadman took an interception in from 27 yards, building the Broncos' lead to 18 points.

The Sooners' comeback began late in the third after an Oklahoma punt took a crazy bounce and caromed off a Broncos players' leg. Two plays later, star running back Adrian Peterson scored from eight yards out.

After Boise State went three-and-out, Oklahoma drove to the Broncos' seven but settled for a field goal, to pull within 28-20.

With just 1:26 left to play, the Sooners scored again when quarterback Paul Thompson found receiver Quentin Chaney five yards away in the endzone. Penalties negated the first pair of two-point tries, but the Sooners tied the game on their third attempt.

And then the fun began.

Those last 86 seconds saw 22 points scored before the game went into overtime in a wild finish that took three trick plays—a hook-and-lateral, a halfback pass and a Statue of Liberty two-point conversion—to finally settle.

It all started :24 after the Sooners tied the game, as Oklahoma's Marcus Walker intercepted Zabransky and returned it 34 yards to make it 34-28. The extra point was good.

The Broncos got the ball back with 54 seconds to play, moving it to midfield before stalling. Facing 4^th-and-18, the play call was "Circus," which players describe as something they ran on Fridays at the end of practice, just goofing around as basketball players do trying to hit mid-court shots before they head for the showers.

With three receivers to the right and one on the left, Zabransky hit receiver Drisan James for 15 yards, short of a first down at the Oklahoma 35. Jerard Rabb trailed the play moving to the left behind James as James took one step up field drawing several defenders before turning and pitching to Rabb, who took it the rest of the way, diving over the pylon in the front corner of the endzone with :07 left. The extra point was good, and the game was tied as time ran out on the ensuing kickoff.

Boise State won the coin toss and opted to play defense first. On Oklahoma's first offensive play, Peterson scored from 25 yards, breaking several tackles along the way.

The Broncos ran three plays, moving to the Sooners 14 for a first down, but the Oklahoma defense held.

After a time out with a 4^th-and-2 at the six-yard line, Zabransky lined up in the backfield, then sprinted left before the snap. Backup receiver Vinny Perretta, now alone in the backfield, took the snap, rolled right as if to run, stopped short and lobbed a pass over a defender into the end zone, where tight end Derek Schouman had found an open crease.

First-year coach Chris Petersen knew his team was gassed, especially his defense. Rather than take the sure one-point conversion to set up a second overtime, he decided to go for it, pulling yet another trick out of the bag.

Called "Statue Left," the play put three receivers out to the right. Zabransky dropped back as the offense moved right.

He pumped right, though the ball was in his left, dropped his left hand behind him as running back Ian Johnson took the ball and headed left to score easily. With his family in the stands by the end zone, Johnson hurled the ball at them as the jubilation took hold.

When it was over Boise State had pulled off one of the game's biggest upsets, a 43-42 overtime win that treated the crowd of 73,719 to the most exciting bowl-game finish ever.

Mighty Oklahoma had fallen, and Boise State completed a perfect 13-0 season.

As for Ian Johnson, the guy who scored those final two points? He dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend, Boise State's head cheerleader Chrissy Popadics, on national television as Chris Meyers interviewed him after the game.