Boise State’s Broncos could be BCS busters

Reporting from Landover, Md.

What, you thought winning the national title was going to be easy?

Boise State, No. 3 in the preseason Associated Press poll, worked years for a shot at the start of the season to be considered for something serious at the end.

With two minutes left Monday night, though, nearing the end of the most important game in Boise State history, the Broncos trailed Virginia Tech by four points.

The team with the blue field was going Code Blue.

Virginia Tech needed one eight-yard play to secure the first down necessary to bury Boise State’s season in the FedEx Field sod.

“When it was all said and done, we were one first down from winning that football game,” Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer said later.

Virginia Tech didn’t get it and was forced to punt the ball back to Boise State, which was like giving a last chance to Kobe.

What did you think was going to happen next?

The Broncos raced 56 yards in 38 seconds and five plays. On the fifth, with 1:09 left, quarterback Kellen Moore zipped a 13-yard slant pass to receiver Austin Pettis for the touchdown heard all the way back to Pocatello.

Boise State won, 33-30, and it was as emphatic as it was dramatic.

Unlike that miracle victory against Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, there were no gadget plays this time. No Statue of Liberty, no hook-and-lateral and no marriage proposal by the running back.

Maybe that was the point — this isn’t really a gadget team anymore, it’s just a team.

Let’s see the big, bad BCS boys knock down this performance.

“We should gain a little respect beating Tech out here,” said Moore, the quarterback. “You’re basically playing a road game out here.”

Boise State recovered from every kind of football emotion. The Broncos broke from the gate looking as if they were going to dominate — leading, 17-0, before some fans had settled in their seats.

And then it started slip-sliding away.

No. 10 Virginia Tech, a very talented team playing to state its own national-title case, found its footing.

Led by quarterback Tyrod Taylor and running back Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech started to wear Boise State down.

You could almost hear what people were screaming into their television sets. This is what happens when a big-conference school (Atlantic Coast) plays a small-conference school (Western Athletic). Eventually, the dam breaks.

Virginia Tech rallied back, taking a 21-20 third-quarter lead on Williams’ one-yard run.

Boise State’s answer was D.J. Harper’s taking the ball on third and short and racing 71 yards for a touchdown.

What Boise State overcame next will be remembered for years if it ends up winning the national title.

The Broncos halted a Virginia Tech drive at the Boise State 33 and, on fourth and 10, the Hokies tried a field goal. Chris Hazley’s 51-yard attempt sailed right. A Boise State player, however, was called for running into the kicker — a five-yard penalty.

Beamer decided to go for it on fourth and five, a brilliant decision. Taylor threw a pass in the flat to Jarrett Boykin, who slipped his defender, Brandyn Thompson, and raced 28 yards for the score that made it 27-26.

Boise State was hanging on by its hide. Kyle Brotzman missed a fourth-quarter field-goal attempt that could have given his team the lead back.

Then, Hazley made a 34-yard field goal, with 7:38 left, giving the Hokies the cushion of 30-26.

In the end, Beamer was so right. His team needed one first down to end Boise’s night.

“We couldn’t finish it off,” he said.

But you knew who would.

Mitch Burroughs returned a punt 25 yards to Boise State’s 44. A blocking-in-the-back penalty called on the Broncos was overruled.

“It was huge, no question about it,” Boise State Coach Chris Petersen said of the referees’ decision.

Moore, a sophomore, took it from there.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous,” he said later. “But at the same time you are excited. These are the type of opportunities you look for in those situations . . . where some of the big-time quarterbacks make plays.”

It took five big ones to score.

“The kids executed the plays like clockwork,” Petersen said.

Boise was almost too efficient, in fact, leaving Virginia Tech more than a minute to try to tie it . . . or win.

On fourth down, though, Boykin couldn’t catch up to Taylor’s downfield heave.

The Broncos started to celebrate — it’s really nothing new to them. This was a team returning most of the starters from last year’s 14-0 squad. This is a program that also went undefeated in 2006.

Monday was only one game, but one 1-0 Boise State had to have if it wanted to keep everyone’s attention.

No one could say afterward that No. 10 Virginia Tech was overrated.

Neither could anyone say it about No. 3.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com