Let’s Have a College Football Playoff Already

Is it too late for a real college football playoff? How about a revote on the Heisman? Cuz if there were, I’d be betting on Boise State to slip past Ohio State with rethought Heisman winner Jared Zabransky going pass-happy on the Buckeyes. Sorry, OSU fans, you can put an asterisk next to this title (if your boys get past Florida). Boise State is a perfectly frightening 13-0.

Lightweight schedule in the WAC? Tell that to Oklahoma, which couldn’t put a stake in the heart of vampire Zabransky. Late fourth-quarter comeback touchdown? Check. Two-point conversion to tie? Easy. Intercept a pass for a game-sealing touchdown with a minute to go? Sure. But somebody forgot to tell the Broncos they were supposed to roll over and play dead for the big boys of corporate college football.

Rangy Zabransky, facing fourth down and 18 yards to go with seconds to go, zipped it to Drisan James, who pitched back to Jarard Rabb, who ran it in to force overtime. The Sooners this time tried a silver bullet – the back-from-the-dead Adrian Peterson – and scored a TD in one play. But BSU coach Chris Petersen looked oddly calm on the sidelines. He trusted Zabransky’s arm. He believed in tailback Ian Johnson. After another fourth-down touchdown pass (this one from a wide receiver), coach Petersen smiled and, in his best Bob Stoops impersonation, rolled the dice and went for the two-point conversion.

Stoops said he was looking for another trick play but not the one the Broncos chose: Zabransky (the next Vince Young?) gazed at three wide receivers to his right, then handed off behind his back to Johnson, who waltzed in for the score. Oh, and then Johnson proposed on camera to his girlfriend, the head cheerleader.

It was arguably the most compelling college football game of the season – up there with Vince Young and Texas’ last-second Rose Bowl win last January. Want to see exciting games like this all through the holidays? I did last year when the Division 1-AA Texas State Bobcats made an unsuccessful run for the national title. Every game was a nail-biter. And in the end, a true champion was crowned. So, NCAA, got the guts? Coach Petersen and his undefeated Boise State Broncos do. And they’re still waiting for someone to defeat them.