Wednesday, January 1, 2003
Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State finished the season 12-1.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A cold, wet and dreary morning turned into a delightful afternoon for Boise State.
The weather didn't improve, but it hardly mattered to the Broncos as they beat Iowa State 34-16 Tuesday in the Humanitarian Bowl.
"The conditions were kind of tough in the first half, but later on they didn't become a factor," said Brock Forsey, who ran for three touchdowns to lead the Broncos. "In fact, we played better."
Forsey, who scored on runs of 4, 2 and 9 yards, finished the season with 32 touchdowns, the second-highest season total in Division I-A. Barry Sanders has the record with 39 for Oklahoma State in 1988.
With temperatures in the low 40s and a steady rain falling, the conditions were hardly typical for a bowl game. It didn't discourage 30,446 fans, nearly all of whom showed up to cheer on the Broncos (12-1).
Boise State won its third Humanitarian Bowl in four seasons. The Broncos also won it in 2000 and 1999. The Western Athletic Conference champions went 7-0 at home this season.
Bobby Hammer was voted MVP of the game after he had 10 tackles, including three for a loss.
"It was a dream season. Can't describe it right now," Hammer said. "We set goals high. But we wanted to do more than set them. We wanted to achieve them."
Tough finish
The Cyclones (7-7), who opened the season at 6-1 and reached the top 10 for the first time in school history, had a 1-6 finish.
"It was not a disappointment to me. It would be only if you let it be," Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace said.
Wallace hyperextended his knee in the first quarter and missed a couple of series. The Cyclones' offense never recovered.
"We had a good stretch of games," Wallace said. "I don't know if we ran out of gas or what. We just didn't have the fire we did in the first part of the season."
Boise State scored at least 34 points in each of its victories this season. The Broncos needed only half that as they shut down Iowa State.
Wallace, the Cyclone quarterback who was an early Heisman Trophy contender, had been averaging 268.6 yards of total offense. He had 190 Tuesday, most of it coming after Boise State already had taken command.
Low note
Iowa State's loss dropped Big 12 Conference teams to 3-3 in bowl games with No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Texas still to play.
Three Iowa State starters were ruled ineligible for the game because of low grades. They might not have been much help as the Cyclones battled a boisterous crowd in Bronco Stadium all day.
"We expect our kids to hold up whoever's in the lineup," Iowa State coach Dan McCarney said. "We've got plenty of guys on our team. Plenty of depth and plenty of players on our team that could play better and should play better."
The crowd was at its loudest to start the second half with the Broncos trailing 10-7.
Boise State forced Iowa State into going three-and-out on the Cyclones' first four possessions of the second half, and the Broncos capitalized with two touchdowns to take a lead they would not relinquish.