OBNUG Hall of Fame: honorary inductees

Throughout the history of the Boise State football program, there have been several defining moments that will forever be a part of BSU lore. And by several, we are thinking of three.

The following moments have earned themselves honorary induction into the OBNUG Hall of Fame thanks to their monumental importance in shaping the Boise State football program. We’ll be skipping out on a podcast this week, but please feel free to vote in the poll at the sidebar.

Here are the honorary candidates for the OBNUG Hall of Fame:

1. The 1980 Division I-AA national championship
   Over the past five years, revisionists have called a number of different games the “biggest game in Boise State history.” There was the Fort Worth Bowl, the Liberty Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, and there were even regular season matchups against Nevada and Fresno State that earned the distinction. Hello! Boise State played in a national championship game! It doesn’t get any bigger than that!
   The future of Boise State football is indeed bright, but the past had its moments, too. The 1980 national championship is more than deserving of a spot in the OBNUG Hall of Fame, and it is deserving of more credit than it receives, too. Tons of teams spend their entire existence trying to win a championship, and Boise State has already accomplished the feat. If you include the junior college title in 1958, they’ve accomplished the feat twice.
   Fan appreciation can be fleeting, but the 1980 national championship game can rest assured that the OBNUG Hall of Fame is forever (until our server gives out).
   
2. The day Boise State joined Division I-A
   If you looked back to a single moment that changed the fortunes of the BSU football program more than anything, it would probably be the jump to Division I-A. Ever since 1996, when Boise State left the Big Sky and joined the big boys in the Big West (“big boys” being a relative term), things have been different around here.
   The move was the start of the groundswell of Bronco Nation. The move led the way for Boise State to improve facilities, budgets, and competition. National success and the scorn of Trev Alberts would have never been achieved had the Broncos remained stagnant in Division I-AA, and any future success can be attributed to the way the team and the school has transitioned to a spot alongside the best teams in the country.
   
3. The Fiesta Bowl
   What more can we say about the Fiesta Bowl? To be sure, it is a game that no Bronco fan will ever forget, but even more so, it is a game that no casual football fan will ever forget. We can’t remember any of Toledo’s greatest games, but Toledo fans certainly remember the Fiesta Bowl.
   The staying power of the Fiesta lies in the three plays that Boise State needed to win the game. The hook and ladder, Perretta to Schouman, and the Statue of Liberty will forever be part of college football history, so we are inducting each into the OBNUG Hall of Fame. The Broncos would have never got to overtime without Jerard Rabb’s hook and ladder touchdown. They would have never recovered from Oklahoma’s overtime touchdown without Perretta’s fourth-down TD toss. Ian Johnson would have never proposed had it not been for Statue Left. And who knows what Chris Myers would have done after the game.