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(More customer reviews)The 2010 Fiesta Bowl offered a hard fought defensive battle. It was also an historic contest. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of which the Fiesta Bowl is a part was (and is) designed to protect the financial advantages of six specific college football conferences when it comes to playing in the the "big money" games. This arrangement probably violates anti-trust law and is widely disliked among fans. But gradually some of the non traditional teams have gained national attention anyway, most notably the University of Utah, Boise State, and Texas Christian. And following the 2009 season, for the first time, two of these teams, TCU and Boise, were invited to play in a BCS game: the Fiesta Bowl held in Glendale Arizona.
Initially fans of both teams were a little disappointed in the match up. Boise and TCU had faced off twice before in smaller bowls with Boise taking the first contest by 3 points and TCU winning the second by a single point. But fans of these two teams and college football fans generally were hoping to see their team play one of the "Big Six" conference teams (teams who, by virtue of winning their conference, get an automatic berth in the BCS bowl games regardless of their record or ranking). Of the 4 previous occasions that smaller schools were actually invited to BCS bowl games, they had won 3 of those games and fans hoped that two more victories might lead college athletic directors to reconsider the Bowl Championship Series in favor of a playoff that allowed champions to be decided on the field, not in the press box or among computers. Executives for the Fiesta Bowl saw things differently however and invited both TCU and Boise State to the Valley of the Sun for a January 5 showdown. From their perspective, having two undefeated and relatively evenly matched teams play would make for great football, drama, and ratings. By and large they were correct. The Fiesta Bowl received better ratings than the Orange or Sugar Bowls and offered a better game than any of the other major bowl games. Fans of college football will enjoy seeing this game again. Unfortunately, Fox has done a better job on production in the past than they did with this DVD.
The game itself was a defensive struggle. TCU had a reputation for dominating teams on defense but few knew just how good Boise State was. Playing in the pass-happy, offense dominated Western Athletic Conference (WAC), Boise had given up a fair number of points over the season. Dedicated Bronco fans, however, knew that the numbers were a bit deceiving. Boise's Broncos boasted the number one offense in the country and most of the scoring against BSU occurred late in contests when the game was out of reach and Boise had already substituted in players two and three deep on their depth chart. Many analysts expected TCU to win handily based on the faulty reasoning that, because they played a more difficult schedule they were a "better" team. But as the game went on, it became clear that Boise was stronger. They controlled time of possession, enjoyed better field position, and committed fewer mistakes. Nonetheless, in a low scoring game, a single turnover can have a huge effect and going into the 4th quarter, the two teams were tied at 10 each. At that point, Boise State did what it does best, pulling a trick play on a 4th and 9 from their own 29 yard line to complete a game winning drive. Both Boise and TCU had great seasons and in the end, the better team won.
Fox, however, did not do justice to this game with their DVD production. The DVD begins with kickoff in the 1st quarter. Fans who attended the game or watched will be disappointed with the lack of lead in. There is no discussion of how the teams came to play in this game and no notice of the pregame controversy about who won the coin toss. We do not even get to see the teams enter the field, a portion of bowl game festivities that contributes heavily to the atmosphere of the game. Other scenes some fans will remember from the original game cast have also been cut. The bonus material was much briefer than that of the Broncos more well known Fiesta Bowl appearance in 2007 when they defeated Oklahoma.
In the final analysis then, you may want to get this DVD if you did not record the game. It was an important game and as a result of this victory, it is generally agreed that Boise State has a legitimate shot at a national title in the 2010 season. If invited to play in the National Championship game, it will mark the first time a team from a non automatic qualifying conference is so honored. But precisely because the 2010 Fiesta Bowl was such an important game, it deserved a better production than what Fox gave it. Hopefully next year, when ABC and ESPN cover the college bowl games, fans will get a better product for their money.
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