Notes on the Fiesta Bowl

I was recently surprised to learn that a lot of people are down on this game as a clunker. Personally, I can't see why. This was 60 minutes of excellent football. No, neither team was stellar, but neither was anybody else in the bowl season. Any team that blew out their opponent in a bowl game was playing a team that was losing the game as much as the winner was winning. And, in some cases, really close games hinged on which team failed to lose it more than which team won. Yes, the Fiesta Bowl hosted a couple of teams who are a little off the main track, but the mere fact that neither team was perfect doesn't ruin a game that was pretty effing good.

In the Fiesta Bowl, I saw a TCU team that was very talented, but made mental mistakes. On the other hand, Boise State was fundamentally sound, but were often frustrated by their physical limitations against a more athletic team. Admittedly, I was not all that enchanted with some of Boise State's playcalling decisions, but that fake punt was inspired. The Broncos once again took just the right risk, at just the right time, exactly when the opposing team didn't expect it, executed it to pefection, fully capitalized on the opportunity they created, and put themselves over the hump for the victory. TCU, on the other hand, kept creating opportunities, but never managed to capitalize on them.

Unfortunately for TCU, they were not in a good situation coming into this game. TCU faced a combination of disappointment at not getting the game they wanted, and some clenching when they found themselves on the big stage. Boise State was very happy to be in that game and they were perfectly happy to be playing for the marbles that were available to them. Add in the fact that they had been in games this big before and—some initial nerves aside—they quickly found their comfort zone. TCU never had to deal with a spotlight as bright as the one at the Fiesta Bowl; it seemed to me that they tightened up in the glare. Boise State loves the spotlight like few other teams and they were happy as could be as soon as they stepped into it.

I should also note that TCU probably did not expect some of the things that Boise State was doing, particularly when Boise State was on defense. The Broncos' constant shifting on the defensive front undoubtedly caused some confusion, as did some of their very unusual defensive alignments... some of which looked to me like "What the hell are you doing?" sort of alignments. But TCU never exploited some of the oddities, so Boise State must have been doing something right.

Admittedly, I would have liked to see better decisions from both quarterbacks; but I figure that I should have expected mistakes from guys who are fired up and trying too hard to make plays, all while they facing the best defenses they have seen since September. Besides, we should probably take into account that decision-making in the pocket might be part of the reason that these guys are playing for TCU and Boise State rather than Texas A&M or UCLA.

In the final judgement, this was a game played by a pair of teams that don't have the best athletes, but do have a set of pretty good athletes who are excellent at the game of football. And let's not forget that this was the most even matchup of the BCS bowls. They were two very good, evenly matched teams that put together a hard-hitting, four-quarter fight that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. If that is a bad game, then I can't figure out what a good one is. The Fiesta deserves some kudos and congratulations for making this game happen.