2007 Fiesta Bowl

Wide receiver Quentin Chaney caught a tipped 5 yard TD pass from quarterback Paul Thompson with 1:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, bringing the Sooners to within two points at 28–26 Boise State.

OU then attempted a two-point conversion to tie the game. In a sign of the wildness to come, Oklahoma would require three attempts to complete the two-point conversion:

• OU's first attempt was unsuccessful, but Boise State was called for pass interference.
• OU would succeed on its second attempt, but the play was called back for illegal shift.
• Finally, Thompson completed a pass to wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias on the third attempt, this time with no penalties, thus tying the game up at 28.

After the ensuing kickoff, on the next play from scrimmage, Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky was intercepted by Marcus Walker, who returned it 34 yards for a touchdown. After the extra point, Oklahoma led 35–28 with 1:02 left, its first lead of the game.

On the ensuing drive Boise State drove to the OU 42. The next series of downs were not so successful for Boise State:

• On first down, Zabransky was sacked for a loss of 8 yards.
• On second down, Zabransky's pass was dropped.
• On third down, Zabransky's pass was incomplete.

Boise State was thus facing fourth down with 18 yards needed for a first down and only 18 seconds left on the clock. Zabransky passed for 15 yards to Drisan James. With five Oklahoma defenders playing a "prevent" style defense to prevent a long conversion, James quickly scoop-passed the ball to an in-stride Jerard Rabb, who ran the ball along the left sideline an additional 35 yards for a touchdown. (The hook and lateral play—called "Circus" by Boise State—allowed for at least two more laterals. Johnson and Zabransky had trailed Rabb along the sideline as potential outlets or possibly as blockers.) The extra point tied the game up at 35 with just seven seconds remaining in regulation, and the game then went into overtime.

Under college football rules, both teams in overtime are given one possession from their opponent's twenty-five yard line. A coin toss gives one team the choice, offense or defense first, or which end of the field. The winner of the toss generally chooses to be on defense first, to know how many points must be scored to win or tie on their offensive possession. The loser of the toss is left to choose the end of the field—usually the one with the largest proportion of their own team's fans so as to increase the crowd noise while their opponents are on offense. The team that is leading after both possessions is declared the winner and in the event of a tie, there is another overtime session with the order of the offensive and defensive possessions reversed. The end of the field is also changed with each overtime session.

Boise State won the coin toss and opted to play defense first. Oklahoma scored on their first play with a 25-yard run by Peterson, which would ultimately be his last collegiate touchdown. The extra point was good, making the score 42–35 Oklahoma. On Boise State's drive, the Broncos came down to 4th and 2 on the Sooners' 5 yard line and decided to run their second trick play, a wide receiver rollout option from a variant of the Wildcat offense. Zabransky ran in motion to his left while backup wide receiver Vinny Perretta, lined up as a running back, took the snap, rolled to his right, then threw a touchdown pass to tight end Derek Schouman, who had lined up as a wide receiver, to bring Boise State within one point at 42–41.

Instead of kicking the extra-point to tie the game and send it into a second overtime, Broncos coach Chris Petersen risked defeat to go for the two-point conversion to win. He ran their third trick play of the night. It was a variation of the Statue of Liberty play known to the team simply as "Statue Left", which was drawn up by backup quarterback Taylor Tharp. Boise State lined up three receivers on the right side. After the snap, Zabransky faked a quick pass to his right with his right hand, then quickly handed off the football backhanded with his left hand to running back Ian Johnson, who ran untouched into the end zone for the conversion and the win.

Boise State finished their season with a perfect 13–0 record, spurring controversy as to whether teams from BCS non-AQ conferences should have an opportunity to play for a national title. Most of the Boise State players and officials that were asked about it in the immediate aftermath of the game downplayed the controversy and claimed they were just happy to participate in the BCS bowls. Some did say they believed they were good enough to play in the National Championship game against the BCS No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, who later lost to the Florida Gators. The Broncos ultimately received one first-place vote in the final AP poll of the season, released after the National Championship game.

Boise State also became just the second team from a non-AQ (automatic qualifier) conference team to both play in and win a BCS bowl game (the 2004 Utah Utes team was the first, playing in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl). However, the presence of Boise State, a non-AQ school, quite possibly led to some of the lowest TV ratings ever for a BCS game. Of the 37 BCS bowl games played through the 2006 season, only two received lower ratings than this game—the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, the only other BCS game up to that time to feature a non-AQ school (although this most likely was due to getting stuck with a clearly over-matched Pitt team from the Big East – who did receive an AQ bid – and the resulting blow-out was not a surprise, in any way); and the 2007 Orange Bowl, which featured two non-traditional teams in Louisville and Wake Forest (although, to be fair, both of these teams were AQ conference champions, were awarded the guaranteed spots in a BCS bowls due to their conference memberships in the Big East Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference, respectively, and were presumably supposed to be bigger draws, whereas neither 2004 Utah nor 2006 Boise State had automatic bids as a conference champions and yet both outscored them in ratings in their games).[10]

The dramatic fashion in which the game finished, along with the numerous trick plays and underdog story, immediately generated incredible enthusiasm, and many have since considered it one of the greatest college football bowl games to ever be played.[11][12]

ESPN columnist Pat Forde had this to say:[12]

The Valley of the Stun was the stage as an indomitable bunch of dreamers in orange pants landed the mightiest populist blow of college football's modern era. They were Hickory High in helmets, George Mason in cleats. They knocked off a gridiron giant one decade to the day after the burial of Pokey Allen, the beloved Boise coach who brought the program up to Division I-A status just 11 years ago.

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated:[13]

How do you sum up one of the most remarkable endings any of us will ever be fortunate enough to see? How do you sum up one of the most exciting bowl games ever contested? And how do you sum up what will one day be viewed as one of the most significant moments in the history of college football? I’m not exaggerating....Boise State beating Oklahoma in a New Year's Day bowl game is college football's equivalent to George Mason reaching the Final Four, with one extremely significant difference: George Mason had its chance to compete for the national title; Boise State does not. Like it or not, Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42 just became the single biggest argument to date for a college football playoff....Not only did they get in the game, they made a major statement on behalf of their mid-major brethren that none of us will soon forget.

Arash Markazi, also of Sports Illustrated, who covered the Broncos throughout their stay in Arizona:[14]

When it was over, even Hollywood couldn't have scripted a more dramatic ending. This was the ultimate underdog story of a team that believed from the start, refused to give up even when it looked bleak and pulled off the improbable. It's one thing for a Cinderella team to upset a heavily favored opponent, but c'mon, this was ridiculous....Boise State's mind-numbing 43–42 victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday night had everything and will go down as one of [the] best games in college football history. It was as big as George Mason getting to the Final Four and is proof that mid-majors can play with the big boys in football, too.

Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times:[15]

Crazy, zany and loony are three apt words to describe the end of Monday night's Fiesta Bowl at the University of Phoenix Stadium. You thought it would never end, but it did, with one of the most gutsy calls and remarkable plays in the history of college football.

Pete Thamel of The New York Times:[16]

...[A] hook-and-lateral, a Statue of Liberty play and a halfback toss launched the Boise State football team to an upset that will long resonate in college football lore....Johnson's proposal capped a dizzying, riveting, back-and-forth game that will be remembered as one of the most exciting in college football history.

It has been reported that the Boise State University Athletic Department is selling the rights for a major motion picture about the Broncos 2006 season.[17]

Broncos quarterback Jared Zabransky is featured on the cover of the 2008 edition of EA Sports popular NCAA Football video game.[18] The last play of the game was also the subject of a television commercial for the video game, but with a twist: it featured Adrian Peterson controlling a Sooners player who tackled Johnson before he crossed the goal line.

The 2007 Fiesta Bowl won the 2007 Best Game ESPY Award, and the game's final play won the 2007 Best Play ESPY Award. It also took the No. 1 spot on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 Games of 2007. The final "Statue of Liberty" play also placed 2nd in ESPN's "The Greatest Highlight" hosted by Chris Berman. Fox Sports won its eighth Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Sports Special for its coverage of the game.[19] Sports Illustrated rated it "The game of the decade" for college football.[20] CBS Sportsline.com rated the game as the most meaningful bowl played in the twenty seasons from 1992 to 2011, in terms of its impact on college football.[21]