Gaming World - History of NCAA Coach Taylor Burck

My goal when I started NCAA 12 was that I wanted to take a small school that no one has heard of and make a name for them.

I got hired as the Head Coach in a town called Akron Ohio. I was the new head coach of the Akron Zips. I told the Athletic Director that he needed to understand success for Akron would not happen over night and this things would take some time. I thought he was on board with that.

I was wrong.

In my 1st and only season as Zips head coach we went 1-11. We had several close losses like an overtime loss to Army, 13-10, and many blow out losses like the one to Western Michigan, 56-3.

My 1st and only win as a Zip came in Buffalo New York on a snowy day in November. Our kicker kicked through a field goal in the heavy snow with no time left on the clock to give Akron the 24-21win over the Buffalo Bulls.

I was excited to see what Akron could do in my 2nd year after having recruited some pretty good new players...I was fired!

The Akron AD sent me packing and said he wanted a more experienced head coach at the helm.

So my time in Akron Ohio was short lived and it was time for me to find a new place of work.

Of course I wanted to still be a head coach, but after being fired and an 1-11 season, I only had four job offers, not a single one for a head coach job. Who could blame them.

I was offered Defensive Coordinator jobs at Idaho, New Mexico State & Colorado State. I was also offered an Offensive Coordinator job at Florida Atlantic University.

While I do really like defensive play and I like WAC schools, it was way to hard to turn down a job in my home state of Florida. So I took the FAU job.

In my 1st year we had some pretty bad moments on offensive but on the defensive side of the ball, witch I had no control over, was even worse. Any close games the Owls ever had a shot at winning were pretty much blown by the defense.

FAU went 3-9 in my 1st year with wins over WKU, North Texas & an FCS School.

Year two was a little bit better, at least for me, heck I still had a job!

The Owls got better on both offense and defense and finished year 2 with a 5-7 record, all Sun Belt Conference wins, but we needed to do a better job at the non Conference games if we wanted to make a bowl game.

Year three we finally accomplished that goal, with non conference wins over Akron (take that!) and UNLV with 4 Sun Belt wins gave us a 6-6 record and my 1st bowl game. We were forced however to take the Owls out of the bright sunny weather they were use to and head up north to Boise Idaho to take on the Toledo Rockets in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Much like my 1st win as a Zips head coach, this game was in heavy snow.

We pulled out the win in pretty dominating fashion 24-7 and with that, I was finally apart of a bowl winning team.

After the FAU AD saw how this team continued to get better year after year when I was there, I was given a big raise and offered a brand new three year contract, which I gladly signed.

Over my final three years at FAU we would go on win a huge season opener at Ann Arbor vs. Michigan and head to three more bowl games, a rematch with Toledo in the godaddy.com bowl and two New Orleans bowl games vs UCF and Southern Miss. We would go on to lose all three bowl games which was really disappointing.

However, you take the good with the bad and in the end FAU did go on to win two Sun Belt Championships. Past of that was because of the Troy Trojans leaving to join conference USA. 

We never once beat Troy while I was at FAU, heck we never even came close to beating them. They whooped us every time. Troy went 12-0 in their last year in the Sun Belt and would go on to beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Then they made the jump to Conference USA while UAB came to replace them here in the Sun Belt.

So with Troy gone, we soon became one of the best teams in the conference and would go on to win two Sun Belt titles over the next three seasons.

I was quickly offered another three year contract as FAU offensive coordinator, but I turned it down. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time and a lot of fun at FAU, but I was ready to become a head coach again. I felt like I had accomplished all that I could with FAU with two conference championships and a bowl win, and if I had no chance to move up and become a head coach, it was time for me to hit the road.

Tough thing is when you turn down a job, the dream job you are looking fir is not always there. No one offered me a head coaching job. I had five job offers when I threw my name back in the coaching pool, not one head coach job.

I was offered five offensive coordinator jobs at Vanderbilt, Memphis, FIU, Western Kentucky and Ole' Miss.

While I was disappointed no one wanted me to be their head man, out of the choices presented, I had a make a choice as FAU had all ready moved on.

It would have been a step backwards in my ultimate goal to go to another Sun Belt School, their was no point in that. So FIU and WKU were out. I took a long hard look at Memphis, but I was not the least bit excited with their offense. They were out. So it was down to my final two choices...two SEC schools. The big time. I weighed my options and finally signed on the dotted line to become a rebel.

I feel like I made the right choice as five years later Vanderbilt football would move down to the Sun Belt due to many unsuccessful seasons in the SEC.

My time with Ole Miss lasted just a short three seasons. Going 6-6, 7-5 and 6-6 in my three seasons with the rebels. We never won an SEC championship but we did make it to three bowl games while I was there. A lose to North Carolina State in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, and wins in back to back bowl games. We took down Air Force in the Hawaii Bowl and I coached in my final Ole' Miss game vs a familiar Sun Belt foe in Middle Tennessee State in the New Mexico Bowl.

My time with Ole' Miss was short lived, but I had a lot of fun with them and that offense, including a brief experiment with running the triple option in the SEC...it failed horribly.

The reason I left Ole' Miss so quickly was the reason I first chose to go there, they would give me that boost toward the head coaching job I wanted so bad.

I finally got that chance when I got a phone call from the university I got a

college degree from...Troy.

Troy, a little over five years removed from a 12-0 season, a Fiesta Bowl and a Conference USA move, wanted me as their head coach.

At this point Conference USA had replaced the Big East as an AQ team following four 13-0 seasons in a row from UCF twice, Houston & SMU. So this was a big time job as Troy was in an AQ conference and was fresh off of a Fiesta Bowl win.

The 1st year was a bit of a struggle for me as I had not been head coach for nine years. We went 7-5 in my 1st year back as the head man and made it into the Conference USA Championship game. Troy would take down UTEP and walk away as 8-5 Conference USA champs. That would earn us this...

A date with the #3 team in the nation, the Texas Longhorns. The biggest game I had ever coached in that is for sure. This Troy team played so hard to win, but it was just not enough as Texas would sneak away with a 24-21 win. Texas was a tough team for sure.

After this season, the AQ rule was done away with and now the top ten ranked teams, as long as there are not two from the same conference, will head to BCS games.

From this point on we would go on to win three more Conference USA championships over the next six seasons. Including season ending bowl wins in the Liberty Bowl over UCONN and TicketCity Bowl over Iowa State. We also had a bowl loss in the Liberty Bowl to Louisville.

One of the biggest things we accomplished as a team and as a University was a Fiesta Bowl victory over in state rival Auburn.

A 12-1 season gave us the shot that every Troy University student had been waiting for, a showdown with one of the big dogs in Alabama. We dominated.

Auburn never came close and with two Fiesta Bowl wins in the past five season, I felt safe in proclaiming the Troy Trojans the #2 team in the state of Alabama.

A big part of the success of the Troy Trojans was the play at the quarterback position by Josiah Higdon. He started all four years he was at Troy. He would go on to win multiple Maxwell, Walter Camp and Davey O'Brien Awards. A scrambling, big Tebow like quarterback that would go down as one of the greatest sports players in Troy History. 

He also won this.

Josiah was recognized as the best player in all of college football.  To this day the only Heisman winner in Troy history and he was so much fun to coach. 

The last thing Josiah did was lead the Trojans to a 13-0 season and birth in the BCS National Championship game.

What was 1st projected as Troy vs. Georgia, a loss in the SEC Championship game gave Pac 12 Champion Air Force the shot at the title with us. It was so cool to see that #1 up next to Troy's name.

The game was in the Rose Bowl and we played our hearts out, but were not able to get the win. The Falcon defense was too tough for us as Josiah tossed four interceptions and Air Force scored 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to take the win 38-31.

I was disappointed for sure as was the entire small town of Troy Alabama, but we proved what this team was made of and most of all I proved I can coach at the highest level in the big games. Take that Akron!

I also proved it with a couple of these.

Three coach of the year awards. over six years at Troy.

We followed our National Title game with a 9-4 season and bid in the TicketCity Bowl. We also got a game scheduled with Alabama that season in Tuscaloosa. The Tide was tired of hearing our talk that we were the the best team in the state following our win over Auburn and National Championship game appearance. They shut us up with a 28-17 win, but we had the lead for much of the ball game and the score of the game was 21-17 late in the 4th quarter with us having a shot a winning.

We also have has wins at Troy vs, Oregon twice, on the road and at home, Texas twice, on the road and at home, Miami and Pitt both on the road. At the time we beat Oregon at home, it was the final week of the season and we were ranked at #1 and they were ranked at #2, both teams at 11-0. That was one of the biggest wins in school history as we scored on the final play to win that game. It was the biggest game in Troy Alabama history.

Only time will tell where me and the Troy Trojans will go from here, it is year #7 for me as Troy head coach, year 2027 and we are determined to make it back to a National Championship game! 

As for me as Head Coach, three bowl wins, four conference titles, a Fiesta Bowl win and a National Title game birth....I say not too shabby :D!

Gaming World - NCAA 12 - Troy Trojans - 2027 Season - Week 3 vs. Tulane

The Trojans hit the road for the 1st time this season as we took on Tulane.

The Green Wave are 1-0 with a win last week over an FCS school.

Our starting QB Alonzo Roberts entered into this game having thrown for 14 Touchdowns and not a single Interception. That changed tonight in the superdome. Alonzo tossed his 1st INT of the year and the Trojans got off to a really slow start. The score of the game was 21 to 13 in favor of the Trojans at the half. 

Because of the great play of Alonzo to begin the season, not much attention has been placed on the defense. However, for the 3rd week in a row the defense came up huge. They held the Green Wave to Zero points in the 2nd half. After our D had 5 sacks in the 2nd half, our offense got going and we scored three touchdowns to close out the game. 

For the 3rd week in a row Alonzo was named player of the game! He now has 19 Touchdowns and 1 interception in just three games. You can see how well the Tulane defense played early in the game as Alonzo had 16 incompletions to just 12 completions.

The win also moved us up from #21 to #17 in the polls.

Alonzo's dominating quarterback play moved him into Heisman consideration! He still has a long way to go, but has had a great start to this year.

Conference USA Player of the Week for the 3rd week in a row.

Alonzo is the #1 passer in the NCAA right now, but has an Iowa QB right on his tail for #1.

Can't forget about the guys that make Alonzo look good on offense catching the football.

Credit for the Trojan defense too!

#17 Troy Trojans 2027 Season - 3-0, 2-0

W - vs MTSU - 72 -6

W - vs Rice*   - 51-24

W - at Tulane*- 42-13

Week 4 - BYE

Week 5 - at UTEP*

Week 6 - Houston*

Week 7 - at Memphis*

Week 8 - Southern Miss*

Week 9 - at ECU*

Week 10 - UCF*

Week 11 - #21 Notre Dame

Week 12 - FAU*

Week 13 - at #12 Florida

Week 14 - BYE

Week 15 - Conference USA Championship Game

* = Conference Games

Next week we can rest up for a bye and then hit the road to El Paso to get ready for the bulk of our schedule, UTEP has always played us tough and we have played them twice in the Conference USA Championship Game in the past 6 years, so you know this team is good.

College Football Returns - What I will be watching tonight, How Ibecame an EWU and UMass fan

So the day is here once again, time for college football.

It is still so funny to me that in the world of college football one of the biggest complaints for not being able to have an extended playoff system is that it would effect the school work and the studies of the student athletes...yet the college football season will begin on a weekday and have games that are continued to be played on friday.

Not too sure how its not ok to have playoffs because of school but we can start the season off on school days. It is odd.

Tonight the games I really care about are the Eastern Washington vs Idaho game and the UMass vs UCONN game.

I became a fan of EWU two years ago when they installed red turf into their stadium and then that season ran the table at home going unbeaten and winning the national title...the REAL college football National Championship in my eyes.

The one that is actually decided on the football field and not on computers.

I really started watching and getting into EWU when they made the playoffs back in 2010 and had two games on TV at home with the red turf, AKA the inferno.



The 1st game I ever saw on the red turf was a overtime playoff thriller in the snow between EWU and North Dakota State. Still one of my favorite football games to this day, and of course I have it on DVD to watch forever :D.

EWU would head on to the D-1 national championship game and after falling behind 19-0 to Delaware, they would score 20 points in the 2nd half to comeback and win the game.

If you have never seen Eastern Washington play, you owe it to yourself to do so. Sure Eastern Washington vs Idaho may not look like a game worth watching on first glance, but go ahead and tune in on ESPN3.com and give them a shot. You will see a really fun team.

As for UMass, I really want to see how they do after following the SportsGamingUniverse Umass series on youtube, if you have no idea what I am talking about, go and youtube SGU UMass Dynasty.

A really fun series on youtube from one of my favorite youtubers, Nadasfan. Give him a search, he does really great work and makes better 20 minute videos than 95% of what you will see on TV these days.

That is what I will be keeping my eyes on tonight as I look forward to Boise State vs. Michigan State and Troy vs. UAB over the next two days.

Gaming World - NCAA 12 - Troy Trojans - 2027 Season - Week 2 vs. Rice

The Troy Trojans have now moved up to #22 in the polls and are ready to open up Conference USA play, playing host to rice.

The Owls are coming into this game with a 1-0 record as well and have always put up tough fights with us in the past.

Owls won the coin toss and kicked off to us. Trojan starting quarterback Alonzo Roberts was looking to have another huge week just as he did against the Blue Raiders a week ago. Things got off to a slow start as Roberts would fumble the football on a scramble on the Trojans opening drive.

Rice would waste no time and take the Troy turnover and put 7 points on the scoreboard.

We had given up our 1st touchdown of the year and were trailing for the 1st time all year.

On our 2nd drive we went 75 yards down the field to the 1 yard line. The Owls would stop us on three straight plays at the one. I, having a lot of confidence in this team, decided to go for it on 4th down, and we failed to score. What a goal line stand from Rice!

No worries though, as it was now Owl football on their 1 yard line. We brought the blitz on 1st down and picked up an easy safety. 7-2 Rice.

We then took the following punt and marched down the field for a score and followed up with a 2-Point conversion to take a quick 10-7 lead over Rice. The Owls would not lead again in this football game.

Final Score - Troy 51, Rice 24.

I have got to hand it to the Owls, the score may not show it, but they put up one heck of a fight in this game. It was nice to see what the Trojans could do with a tougher team then what we had in week 1 vs MTSU.

For the 2nd week in a row, Roberts was named player of the game. He just missed out on throwing for 500 yards and 8 touchdowns in back to back weeks. Super proud of the way he has been playing. I remember being in a vicious recruiting war with Penn State three years ago to sign this kid and we got him. 

He sat behind Trojan QB Legend Josiah Higdon (and Troy's only Heisman Trophy winner) for his 1st two years. He was our starting QB for his junior year when Josiah graduated, but he began his Trojan career with 1 touchdown and 12 interceptions in three games. 

He quickly lost his starting QB job to backup Van Green. Green would go on to lead us to an 8-4 season with a win over Texas and a TicketCity Bowl win over Iowa State to close out the year. 

Alonzo is a Senior now and I decided to give him one more shot as starting QB for us and he is doing a great job in his 1st two games. 14 touchdown passes, 0 interceptions and close to 1,000 yards passing in his 1st two games this year. Much better start than last season.

The win over Rice moved us up to #21 in the rankings.

Not quite enough to be named back to back NCAA player of the week, but Alonzo was named Conference USA offensive player of the week. As you can see he did not complete as many passes based on attempts as last week, but he still had a great game vs a tough Owls team. 14 TDs and 0 INT is awesome!

Alonzo's huge start to the season has him as the #1 passer in the NCAA early on in the 2027 season at 975 yards passing.

9th in the NCAA in total offense. In the middle of some pretty good company on that list.

#21 Troy Trojans 2027 Season - 2-0, 1-0

W - vs MTSU - 72 - 6

W - vs Rice*   - 51-24

Week 3 - at Tulane*

Week 4 - BYE

Week 5 - at UTEP*

Week 6 - Houston*

Week 7 - at Memphis*

Week 8 - Southern Miss*

Week 9 - at ECU*

Week 10 - UCF*

Week 11 - #21 Notre Dame

Week 12 - FAU*

Week 13 - at #18 Florida

Week 14 - BYE

Week 15 - Conference USA Championship Game

* = Conference Games

We hit the road for the 1st time this season when we head out west to play Tulane in the Superdome. I don't mean to sound over confident, but in past 6 years I have played Tulane as Troy head coach, the games have not been close at all. So I expect to see Alonzo show up with another big game. 

Nice easy start to this season, but I have got to keep looking at the schedule ahead, the tough stretch of games start in week 7. As Troy head coach, I have losses vs every team on the schedule from week 7 until week 12. Those are the big games I look forward to. ECU, UCF & Southern Miss have finished with 9 or more wins in the past three years. Until then, I will enjoy this start to the 2027 season.

Gaming World - NCAA 12 - Troy Trojans - 2027 Season

Here is where I will post everything that is going on in the sports gaming world on my side. I will go back and post a history of past seasons and how I got to this point as Troy Trojans head coach (things did not start that way!) However, for right now I will get things going where I am in the 2027 season with the Troy Trojans

Week 1: MTSU at Troy

Troy is in Conference USA in my game (something I will touch on later in a blog history post) and MTSU is still in the Sun Belt. I have not had a game with them in my 6 years as head coach at Troy. I played them in the New Mexico bowl back when I was the offensive coordinator at Ole' Miss, so I wanted to schedule them and bring back the rivalry between Troy and MTSU.

We have plenty of good conference rivals, UCF, ECU, Southern Miss & SMU. I wanted to find a fun non-conference rival.

Lets bring back an old Troy classic rivalry! Ok...maybe this was a bad idea.

Not sure if my Trojans are really good this year....or MTSU is this bad. We are ranked at #23 in the preseason polls, and just destroyed the Blue Raiders 72 to 6. This was the final score even after pulling all of our starters with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd Quarter.

Final Score: Troy 72, MTSU 6.

Player of the game was senior QB Alonzo Roberts, He was 22 of 30 for 501 Yards, 8 Touchdowns and 0 Interceptions.

Two Trojans were named NCAA players of the week, not bad for week 1

We might try this remake of a rivalry once more next season and if it ends up as bad as this game, we can go ahead and call it quits with the Blue Raiders. I like to keep it like real life and schedule home and home games with teams.

Up next for the Trojans is another home game, but now we enter into conference play vs Rice. We have also now moved up to #22 in the rankings.

#22 Troy Trojans 2027 Season - 1-0
W - vs. MTSU - 72 - 6
Week 2 - Rice*
Week 3 - at Tulane*
Week 4 - BYE
Week 5 - at UTEP*
Week 6 - Houston*
Week 7 - at Memphis*
Week 8 - Southern Miss*
Week 9 - at ECU*
Week 10 - UCF*
Week 11 - #21 Notre Dame
Week 12 - FAU*
Week 13 - at #18 Florida
Week 14 - BYE
Week 15 - Conference USA Championship Game

* = Conference Games

History blog coming up next!

Why am I such a huge Boise State Broncos Football Fan?

So I get this question a lot...in fact more that a lot. I’m walking around with my Boise State shirts on or starting on of my many arguments in sports and it always leads to the question....Why am I such a huge Boise State Broncos Football Fan? How can someone living in Florida, going to college in Alabama be such a fan of a school wayyyyyy up there? How did it start?

It all started in around 2003, I had been a huge fan of Football growing up and I watched the NFL all the time. I was a huge Denver Broncos fan and since they won their Super Bowls in 1998 and 1999 they hadn’t been doing to much. It seemed like lately they kept getting to the playoffs and losing…much like there doing now haha. So I was watching a lot more college football that season. 

I had watched college football before 2003, mostly when I was little but I never really got into it. My mom was a  Florida Gators fan so when I was little I cheered for them. I remember watching Danny Werfel playing in the Sugar Bowl back in the day and cheering for them. However over time I just got annoyed with the Gators. I don’t really know why, I was too young to know of the annoying fans they and other SEC teams have (:D), I just kind of grew tired of cheering for them. All I really remember is they kept losing a lot and people kept talking about how awesome they were any ways and it just kind of got annoying. Kind of how the SEC is now lol.

It was around that time, 1997 that I started watching more NFL football then college football. I don’t know if it was the whole blue and orange thing that just transitioned over, but when I stated watching NFL more and more I really liked the Denver Broncos. I remember it was mostly for there spiked stripes they had on their uniform that I liked them the most.

 Back in 1997, no other teams had uniforms like that, to me as a little kid that was the coolest thing ever, it really suck out to me. No other team has stripes like that and I remember thinking how cool it was! I’ll never forget buying my first football jersey. It was a John Elway Navy Blue Home jersey with the orange spiky stripes on it and showing all my friends at school. “Look at how awesome this jersey is! No other team has stripes like this!” I though it was the coolest thing. These days EVERY team has some kind of pointy and goofy stripe on there uniform, but back in 1997, the Denver Broncos were the only ones…and they became my team that year.

That’s how I really started pulling away from college football that year, The Denver Broncos were doing good, the Gators were losing games and I just kind of transitioned over to just watching pro football. So in 1997, the first year I started cheering for the Denver Broncos, They won the Super Bowl. I remember every thing that happened that season like it was yesterday. I thought it was awesome how they were a wild card team and had to win three games to get to the big game. No team had done that since the Raiders way before I was even born. 

The Playoffs, First Game was the Broncos vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars. December 27, 1997, A lot of my family lives in Jacksonville, so you can understand how much heat I got walking in to that house on Christmas weekend with a Denver Broncos jersey on! I didn’t care though, they were my team and I wanted them to win more than any thing! Me on one couch with my Broncos jersey on, and my entire family on the other with there Jaguar stuff on. I still have pictures of that Christmas of all the Jaguar stuff they got me and tried to get me to wear! End of story….I stood my ground and the Broncos pulled out the win, 42-17.


Next up for the Broncos was the Kansas City Chiefs, The Champions of the AFC West, the 13 and 3 Chiefs. This game took place in Kansas City, Arrowhead Stadium, a place were the chiefs DO NOT lose at when it gets late in the season and it gets cold. The Chiefs owned that stadium in December & Januarys. A few weeks before this game the Broncos had played the Chiefs in the same stadium and lost 24 to 22. Kansas City was the one of the best teams in the NFL that season and no one was giving the Broncos a chance. I sat there that day and watched my Broncos and the Chief play there hearts out….and the Broncos pulling out the 14 to 10 win. I couldn’t believe it! My team was just one game away from the Super Bowl! But who would they have to play? The Pittsburgh Steelers.



Watching the AFC Championship game was the best, Broncos vs. Steelers, My mom grew up and Pittsburgh and her sister, my aunt lives there now. So I was in the situation that I was in two weeks ago….my family against me! Me a little kid, all alone fighting for my team to pull out the win! Just like in the case of the Chiefs game, the Steelers had home field advantage, and they DIDN’T just not lose cold weather games at home….they didn’t lose home games period! And just like the Chiefs, it was a few weeks earlier that that Broncos played the Steelers and the Steelers won the game, 35 to 24. So there I was again, me on one couch in that same John Elway jersey I had worn for the past two games and my mom on the other couch with all her steeler stuff on, waving that annoying terrible towel around that the steeler fans are know for and my aunt calling the house every five minuets during that game! At the end of a back and forth and stressful game, the Broncos, my team, pulled out the win, 24 to 21. So that was it! I stood my ground, with stood every thing from my family….my team was going to the Super Bowl!


I’ll never forget in school how much heat I got for being a broncos fan! And as always, I brought most of it on my self, mainly because the only reason I liked the team was because of the stripes on their uniforms! Well, in 1997 Bret Favre was the BIG DEAL. Every kid was a Bret Favre fan. I cheered my heart out the season before in the Super Bowl wanting the Patriots to win just because I was so sick of hearing the Bret Favre kids at school. So, the 1997 Super Bowl hits….and it’s the team with the cool stripes vs. the Green Bay Packers and the Bret Favre fans. 

I was so ill on Super Bowl Sunday. I watched the game in my bed so sick with my mom sitting there giving me play by play updates on what was going on in that game while I laid there barley being able to see. I was how ever able to get up enough stregenth and watch the final drive. Watch John Elway lead the Denver Broncos down that field to take the lead and the victory…31 to 24. I walked back in to school the next day, half sick with that biggest smile on my face, just to say…..what now Favre Fans!

That is how the Denver Broncos became my team. The next season the Broncos nearly went undefeated, only losing 2 games at the end the season and winning yet another Super Bowl! The Broncos were my team and I had completely forgotten about college football.

So why is all this important and relating to Boise State? Well I am getting to that! After those two years as a Broncos fan and every thing I had to go though listening to people say my team was not going to win and not they were no good, I started to like the underdog teams. 

I really liked being the one guy against every one, I really started liking the underdog teams like the Broncos were. That’s how I became a big Cardinals fan in football, they were ALWAYS the underdog.

The 2000’s came on in and I was really getting in to sports at this point. Watching a lot of different sports and finding the teams that I liked. Just because I was from Florida every one wanted me to cheer for those teams. Well I didn’t want to. I wanted to watch that sports and find teams that I enjoyed. 

With the Denver Broncos doing poorly, I got back in to college football around 2003. I was searching for a team. The Gators were horrible that year and I just got sick of Gator people. They just annoyed me. I remember seeing Michigan State and even though they were not very good, I liked them a lot for some reason. It was in 2004 that I found out the horrors of the BCS and how they randomly pick two teams to play for the national championship. The 2004 season was the year of the four unbeaten teams and I remember how stupid I though that was. I refused to watch the National Championship that year and since then I have only watched two National Championship games out of boycott, the 2005 and 2008 games. I felt so bad for Auburn and thought they should have been playing USC for the National Championship. As much as I felt for them, for some reason they just were not the team for me and search continued.

The 2004 college football season was here and I still had no idea who I was going to cheer for. As with the Denver Broncos and what made me become such a fan, I was looking for something unique. Something that no other team had, just like the Denver Broncos and there stripes. 

I don’t even remember how I heard about it. I think it was just two random kids talking at school one day, but I heard of a team that had a blue football field. I though that had to be a joke. No way would a team have an all blue football field. I didn’t even know what team it was and either did the kids, it was just some team with a blue football field. I though they were out of there minds.

Then comes the day I discovered the team that would become my team. The Boise State Broncos. It was late in the college football season and I still hadn’t found a team. Boise State was not at all popular back in 2004. None of their games were ever on TV so I had never seen them before.

It was at a sports bar on one college football Saturday and that is were I saw my first Boise State game. Sports bars get all the college games because they have all the college football packages and satellites and what not. So for what ever reason on one random Saturday I was in a sports bar for lunch with my mom and I glanced up at the TV right above our table and there it was…..the blue football field! 

I don’t even remember who Boise State was playing that day or what the final score was….all I remember thinking while I stared at that TV for two hours was…well I’ll be dammed….its a blue football field. I didn’t even know what team it belonged to. It was just there and it was blue. The more I watched, the more I learned, The team that owned the field was the Boise State Broncos. 

The Broncos, another football team called the Broncos. They dressed in blue and orange just like the Denver Broncos and they had the same spiked uniform stripes as the Denver Broncos…but so did every team by that point. The name Broncos, the blue and orange….and they had an entire blue football field. It was the coolest thing that I had ever seen. The more I watched the more I found out. The broncos were apart of a conference called that WAC. I had never heard of it. I though it’s just another crummy team in some small conference that no one knows about, ill never get to watch them again. One thing caught my eye. Boise State was in the middle of trying to pull off an undefeated season. An underdog team from a no name conference that no one had ever heard of was trying to run the table and go undefeated and mess up the BCS….and did I mention they HAD A BLUE FOOTBALL FIELD?!?!?! 

I had found my team. Boise State was never on TV and I never had any special college football packages or satelliteTV so I was never able to really keep up with them except for when they were rarely shown on sports center. They did get on TV one time late in the season in a game against San Jose State. It was in San Jose so I didn’t get to see the blue field again, but what I did see was amazing. A 56 to 49 double overtime thriller in which two teams each put up over 500 yards of total offence. 

I saw a team fight its heart out to keep an undefeated season alive. Yes, this was my team! In the end the Boise State Broncos finished the season 11 and 0 and went on to play Louisville in the Liberty Bowl. I remember how I thought that they, much like auburn, was getting screwed. What is the point of an undefeated season if you can’t win the National Championship? I was soon shut up as Boise State was beaten by Louisville 44 to 40, and once again all the kids told me to keep quiet about Boise State and how they were no good.

I didn’t listen; I told them next season you just wait and see, Boise is going to do it again! Well in 2005 that did not happen….not even close. In their first game of the season Boise traveled to play a big conference team. An SEC team. The Georgia Bulldogs. They got killed, 48 to 13. The week after they played Oregon State. Another big conference team. Again they lost. Was this really my team? Was this the team I stuck up for? This team is horrible. This team has no heart….this was not that team I saw a year ago fighting for an undefeated season and giving Louisville every thing they could handle. Again I had to face my friends at school…they said I told you so. “Why don’t you just pick a big conference team to cheer for?” They said. “Boise is a crummy team and can’t compete with the big schools” After hearing that. I stuck with them. They were my underdog team.

Those were Boise’s two big games on TV that season. With Boise not on TV that much it was so hard to keep up with them, but I did my best. As the season went on the Broncos started winning and winning again and finished the season 9 and 3. Not too bad. 

The bowl game that year…The MPC Computers Bowl. Live from Boise Idaho at Broncos Stadium. The Broncos had their bowl game at home, on the blue field. This was the first time I had seen an entire game on the blue field since that day in the sports bar. Boise State vs. Boston College….on the blue! I could not wait! Excitement died down quick as Boston College jumped out to at 27 to 0 lead and carried that into much of the 3rd quarter.

Boise was getting thrown around on their own field. The awesome, cool, amazing blue football field. Just as I was starting to doubt things, The Broncos showed me that heart that made me a fan of them from day one. The never say die, go for broke attitude that I love in my sports teams. The Broncos stormed back into the game, with one minute left in the 3rd quarter the Broncos refused to give up and scored and minutes later scored again. Before I knew it the score was Boston College 27 and Boise State 21. The Broncos, my Broncos were one touchdown away from winning the game! 

Just like last season in the double overtime game and in the Liberty Bowl, A Boise State game was coming down to the last play…and I was loving every second of it. Boise was not the best team, but every time I watched them they had games coming down to the last play. They were not blowing any one out. They were doing one thing. The only thing that I cared about. They were showing heart, refusing to give up and playing until the last play of the game. That’s why they were my team……that and they had a cool blue football field :P.

In the end the Broncos drove down to the 10 yard line. Getting ready to score and perform the improbable comeback….just like the Liberty Bowl the year before, Boise State Quarterback Jared Zabranskey threw an interception in the back of the end zone that ended the game….DAMN IT! That was the only thing I could yell….My mom whips the door to my room open. “What’s going on in here?!” She said. “Eh, Boise State just lost there bowl game on the last play just like last year” I replied. My mom says “Boise State? Oh that weird team with that field?” 

That’s all the Boise State Broncos was to any one. Just that weird team with that weird field. But you know what? That’s why I loved them. They were a weird team from a weird conference with a weird looking football field with some pretty weird players with some pretty weird names. Jerard Rabb, Legedu Naanee, Drisan James, Ryan Putnam, Jared Zabranskey, Vinny Perretta, Marty Tadman, Orlando Scandrick. Who had ever heard of these players with these goofy names? I had. They were my team. No one knew who they were. They weren’t from a big conference. No one cared about them. No one except me. Just like the Denver Broncos a few years before…It was EVERYONE against me and my team….and I loved it that way!

Here comes the 2006 College football season! Every one was talking about USC, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Florida, and Alabama. Every one was waiting to see what the new big schools were going to do. Not me. I could care less. I was ready to watch Boise State. Winners or Losers, I was ready to see my team play there hearts out like they do every week. Boise State’s first game on TV was in week two. Boise State vs. Oregon State. Boise State playing a big conference school. I had never seen Boise State beat a big conference school. Since I became a fan…They had lost to Louisville, Georgia, Boston College and this Oregon State team. Yea I was nervous about this game! Boise State vs. Oregon State on the blue turf that I loved so much! It was this game I discovered a player by the name of Ian Johnson. Single handled, he tore the Oregon State defense apart. Boise State had won the game on the blue. 42 to 14.

Boise had finally beaten a big conference team. I walked around school all the time wearing my “Boise State 4-Time WAC Champions” and “Boise State 5-pete WAC Champions” Shirts. My friends would always say, “Yea WAC Champions, 5 in a row that’s nice, but they can’t beat any one good.” Well now they had. I loved this team. They were so much fun to watch and they had an awesome football field and now they were winning. 

Boise continued to roll through opponents that season, Wins by scores of 36-3, 55-14, 49-10, & 38-7. The Broncos also had there heart attack games too, 17-10 and 23-20. I’ll never forget the 23-20 game. It was against San Jose State. The first team I remember Boise playing and having an awesome game against that really made me notice them. This weekend I was in Orlando visiting relatives. It was thanksgiving break from school and my mom ran us up to Orlando for thanksgiving. This game was not on TV…I had to survive watching the ticker run by the bottom of the screen giving me score up dates while every one else watched the gators game. Boise had to score a touchdown, two point conversion and later got a field goal to win the game….that was my team….never giving up! Of course me being loud about the Broncos while every one was trying to watch their big conference games on the TV prompted thoes many questions I always get. Why are you cheering for them? Do you even know what state Boise is in? Who does Boise even play? Isn’t Boise that team with that weird looking football field? The same things I was hearing from my friends, I was now starting to hear from my relatives. As I do with every one, I engaged with several arguments and I stood my ground and they stood there’s. It ended with them telling me, “Wait until Boise plays a good big team again, see what happens!”

That day would be here before I knew it. The Boise State Broncos, The weird team with that weird football field had finished the season 12 and 0 and was going to the Fiesta Bowl. The Biggest game in Boise State Bronco history against the toughest opponent in Boise State History…The Oklahoma Sooners! The seven time national champions that had just come off of several national championship seasons and a few national championship game appearances. A 10 and 2 Oklahoma team that would have been in the National Championship that season had it not been for a bad call going against them in a game against Oregon earlier that season. Boise States first real test…A National Championship Caliber team. The ultimate “I told you so!” game for me and every one against me that wanted to see Boise State fall, not because they disliked Boise State…they mostly wanted me to shut up! haha I more I talked about how Boise should be in the National Championship and not another random bowl game was getting every one fired up and the more fired up they got the more I loved it! 

The 2006 National Championship Game saw the 12 and 0 Ohio State Buckeyes playing the 12 and 1 Florida Gators and I was PISSED! Boise was 12 and 0…..Ohio State was 12 and 0. The only two undefeated college football teams that season. Yet Boise State was getting left out for a one loss Florida team. Running around in Florida saying that Boise State should be in the Championship and not Florida was never a good thing! Especially when I had a rhyme going. See this season Boise State beat Oregon State, Oregon State beat USC, USC beat Arkansas, Arkansas beat Auburn, and Auburn beat Florida. There for I felt that Boise State was better than the gators. None the less, the Broncos got the bowl that they did and it was put up or shut up time!

January 1st, 2007. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Game, The underdogs Boise State vs. The National Power House…..Oklahoma. I was so excited for this game. Me and my mom went to the store and got Tostitos and dip for the game and my mom made me a chocolate cake for dessert. A cake that was completely covered head to toe in blue icing. White icing stripes down the cake and orange icing for the end zones. A Blue football field cake. It was awesome! 

Just me and my mom watching the game…and this time she was on my side. She wanted the broncos to win as much as I did. They were no longer just “Boise State? Oh that weird team with that field?” They were my team.

Like every year I try to watch all the bowl games, no matter how important. I’ll never forget the night I was watching FSU play UCLA in the Emerald Bowl and my mom thinking I was watching a High School football game. “Oh this is a bowl game? No one is in the stands and its so quiet I though you were watching high school football” Then the fiesta bowl game came around. The stands JAM PACKED. A Nationally Televised game on FOX, one of the few Boise games I was able to watch on TV that season. The lights, the fireworks, the opening videos and my mom made the comment “Wow, now this is a bowl game, This is a pretty big game for Boise huh?”

Before I knew it the Broncos jumped out to a 14 to 0 lead over Oklahoma. My mom jumped up and garbed the phone and told me to call every one in Orlando. I said no! This game is a long way from being over. I have been though a lot with this team….any thing can happen….and it did. Boise dominated the game. They threw the Sooners around like they were another no name WAC team. Late into the 3rd quarter Boise State lead the mighty Oklahoma Sooners 28 to 10….and I was all smiles. 

One play though….one play changed the ENTIRE game. A punt by Oklahoma that bounced off the foot of a Boise State player, Thus making it a live football. A football that the Sooners jumped on. A football that was 20 yards away from their end zone. Momentum swung Oklahoma’s way and before I knew it there was 2 minutest left in the football game….Oklahoma had just scored another touch down….Now only losing to the Broncos 28 to 26, getting ready for the 2 point conversion. I was holding my breath….Due to penalties the Oklahoma Sooners ran the 2 point conversion play 3 times….3 plays, Finally, the 3rd play ended with out a penalty…and it ended with The Sooners tying up the game 28 to 28.

Less than two minutes to go in the game and the Broncos had blown their lead….they forced 4 turnovers on the Sooners and could not put them away….and then it happened….instead of running out the clock and taking the game to overtime….on the first play after the Sooners scored…the Broncos threw the ball….It was intercepted and taken back for an Oklahoma touchdown…..35 to 28. For the 3rd year in a row I was watching my team blow its bowl game…another bowl game loss. I kept saying to my self, you know what, every one said they could not hang with the big schools. Boise State is no good, well they hung with the biggest school of them all and even though they are going to lose, they proved they can hang with the big schools. I looked at the clock…there is still one minute and thirty seconds left….there was still time for my team.

The Broncos moved the ball to midfield…and were stalled out there. It was 4th and 18 for Boise State. 18 Seconds to go. “A last gasp for the Broncos” That’s what the announcers said. On that entire drive I kept picturing in my head the Broncos pulling out this game, I kept saying they are going to do it, a long pass, their going to score, just one big play they can do it! However now it was 4th and 18. Even with a first down at this point there was hardly any time left on the clock, simply a mere 18 seconds…..Boise State needed a miracle.

They got one. The most amazing play that still to this day, I have no idea how they pulled off. I rewind that play over and over and over and I still have no idea how they pulled it off. A play Boise State called circus. A hook and ladder lateral play….On that play, on 4th and 18, with 18 seconds left in that game…50 yards away from the end zone. The Broncos scored a touchdown. I held my breath on the extra point. It could not have got through the uprights any more beautifully. 35 to 35 going in to overtime. I was on the floor at this point. 

The first play in overtime Oklahoma had the ball….Adrian Peterson, the Oklahoma running back scored on a 25 yard touchdown run. Just like that. With seemingly no effort at all, the Sooners were back in the lead. 42 to 35. 

Boise States turn….3rd and 7….FIRST DOWN. Now slowly moving the football was the Broncos…with not as much ease as Oklahoma has just done. Now its 4th down and 2, Boise’s football….a game that had been going on for 4 hours….I wanted it to end….With the game once again on the line, Boise pulled out a trick play, The quarterback went in motion and lined up as a wide receiver….whatl were they doing? 

The Wide Receiver took the snap from the center, chucked it up toward the back of the end zone…..The pass was caught by Derrick Shoeman….Touchdown Boise….42 to 41. The Broncos were about to go for the 2 point conversion to win the game. Once again a trick play, A fake pass to 3 Wide Receivers lined up to the right, a hand off to Ian Johnson behind the back…a run to the left side of the field…..a 2 point conversion….They did it, They pulled it off, 43 to 42…I was still on the floor…..I could not believe what I just watched, it really happened. 

I still was not sure. I was taping the game in my room. I rewound the taped and watched the entire game again that night. That really happened. My team did that. That team no one believed in except for a few people. Those people called Bronco Nation. I was apart of it. It was awesome…Boise State finished the season as the ONLY undefeated team in college football that season. The true National Champions in my eyes. Since that day I have shown that game to countless amounts of people. I have watched that game over at least 20 times. I still have no idea how they won that game.

The next day every one looked at me….wow is all they could say. A game no one would have watched if not for me, they finally saw what I saw. A team with heart, that never gives up. They were Bronco fans now.

Another quote from my mom “How is this team going to do after this? A lot of those players are seniors right? They can’t keep having good seasons now with new players can they?” I simply answered “Yes they can”.

The next year Boise State went 10 and 2, Not a bad season at all, but they lost the WAC Championship to Hawaii, the streak was over and the Broncos not only were not going to a good bowl, but they lost the conference championship….a conference they had owned from day one. Boise went to the Hawaii bowl that year. ESPN.com said that 98% of the people voted that the Broncos would win the game. No longer was Boise State the little school no one knew with that weird looking football field, they were one of big boys in college football now….and I can always say….I was a Boise State fan before being a Boise State fan was cool.

Boise went on to lose the Hawaii Bowl to ECU 41 to 38, again in a game were Boise State had to come from behind and a game that came down to the last play. Win or lose….every time I sit down to watch a Boise State game, I have fun.

2008 Season is here and Boise goes 12 and 0 with a big win vs. Oregon. At this point Boise State is on TV every week and I’m loving it. Even with a 12 and 0 record, Boise State gets shut out of another BCS bowl game, Instead they play TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl. A bowl game in which once again, Boise loses, but once again…comes down to one final play. Any time Boise loses…they play to the last play and never give up. That is why they are my team.

Now this season, Boise is once again undefeated. The 4th time in 6 years. 13 and 0. This season, like no other is Boise State History, has had its ups and downs. I have seen every single game this season thanks to ESPN 360.com and I have drug my friends along with me on the wild ride! Right Max! ;)

So now I sit, Christmas Eve turned into Christmas day. I open my gifts and half of them are Boise State gifts. A book, a DVD, and a T-Shirt that says “13-0…Perfect Season” and I begin to wonder….how did a kid living in Florida, a kid that goes to college at Troy University, love a team so far away? So I sat down tonight at 2 A.M. and began to type…and now I look at the clock at it is now 4 A.M.. 

Boise State is the underdogs that no one gave a chance. A no name team that I discovered 5 years ago because they had a blue football field. A team that fights for every little school each and every year to have a shot at the big schools. Yes I am a student a Troy University and I love Troy very much….Troy is a 4 time conference champion; they play the big schools hard week in and week out just like Boise. Maybe one they will be the next Boise State putting on a show in a BCS bowl game. I’m just a kid living in Florida, A kid attending Troy University, A Kid that bleeds Blue and Orange….Just not Florida blue and orange, Boise State Bronco Blue & Orange. A member of Bronco Nation, Trapped thousands of miles away….no matter how far away I am, I know each and every week they hear me cheering all the way down here.