It was the most anticipated of the BCS bowls, with two highly seeded teams, third seed Oklahoma State versus fifth seed Oregon (playing the number three seed to avoid a rematch from the regular season against fourth seed Stanford). Not only were these two teams highly ranked, they were both conference champions, known for high powered offense, and perhaps the only real contenders for the national championship outside the SEC. In fact, the Fiesta Bowl was the only BCS Quarterfinal Bowl without an SEC West team.
But, ahh, the best laid schemes...the Cowboys and Ducks were scoreless after the first twelve minutes. What happened? Well, the Cowboys made some good defensive stands and also intercepted a Darron Thomas pass, and the Ducks had a solid first drive but took a fourth down risk that failed. On the other side of the ball, the Cowboys looked like more like Barney Fife, with their high powered bullets either in their pocket or completely misfired.
But you can't keep these kind of offenses down too long. Oregon started the second quarter scoring on a 54 yard Darron Thomas pass to Kenjon Barner to give the Ducks the opening 7-0 lead. Brandon Weeden finally responded during a solid subsequent drive culminating in a 43 yard pass to Justin Blackmon to tie the game. Within minutes, Weedon combined on a 67 yard TD to Blackmon, and the Cowboys took the 14-7 lead. But the Ducks were game, and answered with a TD on a Lavasier Tuinei 3 yard pass from Darron Thomas to tie the game at 14. Oregon's Alejandro Maldonado hit a field goal, and the Ducks grabbed a 17-14 lead. The Cowboys grabbed the lead back on a Weedon two yard run with a half-minute left in the first half. As the teams headed to their locker rooms at halftime, OSU lead Oregon 21-17.
The third quarter's scoring pace slowed as both teams seem to tighten knowing a close game was ahead of them, and the only scoring of the quarter was an Oregon field goal and then an Oklahoma State field goal. The final frame started with a 24-20 Cowboy lead.
But the drama of the fourth quarter lived up to the pre-game hype, and the Ducks lived by the field goal, and finally lost by the field goal. The quarter started with Oregon's Tuinei scoring on an 11 yard pass from Darron Thomas, and the Ducks led. Oklahoma State answered with another Weedon-Blackmon connection, and the Cowboys led 31-27. A third Maldonado field goal, this from 30 yards out, and the Ducks were within a point. Then Duck De'Anthony Thomas' explosive 91 yard touchdown run gave Oregon a lead of 37-31.
But Oklahoma State can score at warp speed, and the Cowboys took the lead back with 2:35 to play on a Joseph Randle 4 yard touchdown run, and Quinn Sharp's extra point provided a sliver of a lead of 38-37. Oregon made an impressive drive down the field, but missed a field goal with 0:03 to go, to break the hearts of the faithful in Eugene.
Oklahoma State returns to the semi-finals for the first time since the 1984-85 Cowboys beat top seeded BYU in overtime. And the curse of the third seed was broken by OSU. In the five seasons since the tournament expanded to ten teams, third seeds were 0-5 in BCS Bowls. The Cowboys head to the Saint Louis semi-finals overcoming both a curse and a talented Oregon opposition.
UPDATED TOURNEY RESULTS:
FIRST ROUND:
In Pittsburgh:
7 Boise State
10 West Virginia
In Green Bay:
8 Wisconsin
9 Clemson
BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):
Orange:
1 LSU
8 Wisconsin/Clemson
Rose:
4 Stanford
6 Arkansas
Sugar:
2 Alabama
7 Boise State/West Virginia
Fiesta:
3 Oklahoma State 38
5 Oregon 37
Semi-finals in Saint Louis:
LSU/Wisconsin/Clemson versus Stanford/Arkansas
Alabama/Boise State/West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State
BCS Championship in New Orleans
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