Late field goal lifts Boise State to a third straight win in the MAACO Bowl
Published: December 23, 2012 Updated 2 hours ago
Darin Oswald — doswald@idahostatesman.com
By CHADD CRIPE — ccripe@idahostatesman.com
LAS VEGAS — The Boise State football team hoisted senior
kicker Michael Frisina into the air and formed a mosh pit around him Saturday
afternoon at Sam Boyd Stadium.
“Frisina! Frisina! Frisina!” they chanted.
For a few moments, and for a
change, the kicker was the most beloved person in blue and orange.
Frisina made a 27-yard field goal with 1 minute, 16 seconds
left to give the No. 20 Broncos a 28-26 victory over the Washington Huskies in
the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas.
“That had a little to do with
the curse, you can call it, that we had,” Boise State sophomore wide receiver
Matt Miller said of the celebration. “For him to step up and make a kick, I
think it shows we don’t have a kicker problem anymore.”
Washington tried to answer, but
Boise State sophomore safety Jeremy Ioane sealed the Broncos’ victory with an
interception with 14 seconds left.
The Broncos, whose lone losses
in 2010 and 2011 occurred when their previous kickers missed potential
game-winning field goals, finished the season 11-2. They have won at least 11
games in five straight seasons, will finish in the Top 20 for the fifth
straight season and have won bowl games in four straight years for the first
time in school history.
The Broncos built an 18-3 lead
over the Huskies (7-6) in the first half, led 18-17 at halftime and trailed for
the first time, 26-25, late in the fourth quarter.
The script was flipped from the
rest of the season with the Broncos’ much-maligned offense delivering clutch
plays in bunches — they converted nine third or fourth downs — and their
usually dominant defense staggered by the Huskies’ brute-force attack.
“We knew Washington was as good an opponent as we could
face, and they were,” Boise State junior quarterback Joe Southwick said. “They
showed it on the field today. … We knew it would take all four quarters. We
were able to, in the fourth quarter, take care of business.”
Southwick capped his first
season as a starter with his most impressive outing. He was 26-of-38 for 264
yards and two touchdowns, often shuffling in the pocket or scrambling to the
outside to find his receivers. He also rushed 11 times for 39 yards — using his
athletic ability to keep scoring drives alive — and operated much of the game
without a huddle.
In the last four games of the
season, he tossed nine touchdown passes and no interceptions while completing
69.9 percent of his passes.
“He really did a nice job in the game today,” Washington
coach Steve Sarkisian said. “He managed their offense, especially in their
up-tempo stuff. He threw the ball efficiently and accurately and then when he
pulled the ball down and scrambled, he was effective. He hurt us with his legs
today.”
Washington sophomore tailback
Bishop Sankey, the game MVP, kept the Huskies within reach in the first half
and finished with 205 rushing yards, 279 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.
He got help in the second half from a third-down passing attack that featured
sophomore wide receiver Kasen Williams (six catches, 95 yards) and sophomore
tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins (six, 61, TD).
“(Sankey) was doing a good job of finding holes in our
defense,” said Boise State senior linebacker J.C. Percy, who made a career-high
17 tackles. “He was able to run hard, break tackles and use his elusive moves
and get away from us.”
One of the Huskies’ three stars touched the ball on 11 of 13
offensive plays as they marched from their own 4-yard line to the Boise State
20 in the fourth quarter. On third-and-8, cornerback Jamar Taylor broke up a
pass and forced a Travis Coons field-goal attempt.
Coons, who missed from 41 yards on the previous possession,
hit a 38-yarder for the 26-25 lead with 4:09 remaining.
The Broncos’ offensive players sought out Southwick.
“Hey, you’re our leader,” they
told him, according to senior wide receiver Chris Potter. “Take us down there
and we’re going to win this game.”
2/4
True freshman wide receiver and
kickoff returner Shane Williams-Rhodes, whose highlight-reel quickness got him
on the field this season, provided a spark. Williams-Rhodes fielded the kickoff
at his own 11-yard line, started to the left — where his blockers were — and
then broke into the open field along the right sideline.
He nearly escaped for a touchdown but stepped out of bounds at
the Washington 42-yard line — a careerbest 47-yard return.
“He’s such a little jitterbug,” Boise State coach Chris
Petersen said. “He’s got great instincts. The play was designed to go to the
other side and he could feel them rotate too fast and he hit it back across the
field.”
Southwick barely converted a fourth-and-1 sneak and
completed three passes to push the ball to the Huskies’ 12. The Broncos took
one shot at the end zone but were content to place the ball on Frisina’s
preferred hash mark, the right, and force the Huskies to use two timeouts.
Petersen figured he’d found Frisina’s sweet spot. He was
13-of-13 on field goals of 30 yards or less — and this was a 27-yarder.
“He’s been like clockwork,” Petersen said.
Frisina made a solid strike — “I knew I made it right when I
hit it,” he said — and the ball sailed about a yard inside the right upright.
On the sideline, many Broncos watched from one knee.
“I thought, ‘Third time’s a charm,’ ” Percy said. “I knew
Friz was going to make it.”
Chadd Cripe: 377-6398, Twitter:
@IDS_BroncoBeat
