Playoffs: Quarterfinals: No. 8 Boise State vs. No. 1 Ohio State

We're into the quarterfinals of the 2006 Virtual BCS NCAA Tournament playoffs, with the first game featuring No. 8 Boise State vs. No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium. If you don't remember the premise or rules in our playoff, check them out here.

Any questions why there shouldn't be a playoff were erased with this one game. Should this have been real life, the ratings would have been huge and the feeling fans receive every March would have been materialized.

Here came the upset larger than the two in the first round, when No. 13 West Virginia and No. 15 Virginia Tech both knocked off Top 4 seeds. Nope, Boise State's 28-10 win over top-seeded Ohio State left a mess in the playoffs and leaves us to question what would actually happen if the two unbeaten teams in college football actually played.

After Ohio State took a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter off of a fumbled Boise State kickoff, the Broncos scored the next 28 points over three quarters to take a commanding lead and give BSU the chance at the upset.

Two touchdowns by sophomore running back Ian Johnson and two scoring passes by senior quarterback Jared Zabransky gave Boise State the lead it needed.

Ohio State attempted to come back on a Troy Smith touchdown pass to Roy Hall, but 28-10 was as close as the Buckeyes got to a national championship.

Boise State's defense held the OSU offense to 171 total yards and held emerging star wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez without a catch.

The Broncos move on to face either No. 13 West Virginia or No. 5 USC in one semifinal. That quarterfinal game will take place tomorrow.

Stats:

Boise State: Passing -- Zabransky 18-24-0-255, 2 TDs. Rushing -- Johnson 9-43, 2 TDs; James 1-11; Lau 1-9. Receiving -- James 8-175, 2 TDs; Schouman 3-26; Naanee 2-7; Rabb 2-33; Putnam 2-17. Defensive -- Hall 5 tkl., 2 TFL; Smith 4 tkl.; Brooks 4 tkl., 3 TFL; Volk 4 tkl., 2 TFL; Schlekeway 2 tkl., TFL, SK; Tadman 2 tkl., TFL, SK.

Ohio State: Passing -- Smith 10-18-0-118, 1 TD. Rushing -- Smith 9-33; Pittman 15-18; White 1-2. Receiving -- Ginn 3-61; White 2-6; Nicol 2-33; Hall 1-16, 1 TD; Frost 1-5. Defensive -- Jenkins 5 tkl.; Laurinaitis 4 tkl., TFL; Mitchell 3 tkl.; Dukes FF; Welch FR.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Matt J.]

Oh...if only...