1994 Boise State Broncos football team

1994 Boise State Broncos football
Big Sky champion
NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game, L 14–28 vs. Youngstown State
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
Sports Network	No. 3
Record	13–2 (6–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Pokey Allen (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Al Borges (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Tom Mason (2nd season)
Home stadium	Bronco Stadium (capacity: 20,000)
Seasons ←  1993 1995  →

1994 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Boise State $^	6	–	1	–	0			13	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Idaho ^	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 8 Montana ^	5	–	2	–	0			11	–	3	–	0
No. 25 Northern Arizona	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Idaho State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Weber State	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Eastern Washington	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Montana State	0	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1994 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos were led by second-year head coach Pokey Allen.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 3	Northeastern *		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 36–26	19,509
September 10	Cal State Northridge *		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 40–19	19,489
September 17	Nevada (Div. I-A)*		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (rivalry)	W 37–27	21,669
September 24	Liberty *		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 35–7	21,584
October 1	at No. 16 Northern Arizona	No. 25	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ [1]	W 28–16	12,865
October 8	Weber State	No. 16	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID [2]	W 24–17	23,226
October 15	at Idaho State	No. 11	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID [3]	L 31–32	10,267
October 22	at Montana State	No. 17	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT [4]	W 38–10	7,407
November 5	No. 1 Montana	No. 15	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID [5] [6]	W 38–14	22,630
November 12	at Eastern Washington	No. 10	Woodward Field Cheney, WA [7] [8]	W 16–13	3,872
November 19	No. 3 Idaho	No. 6	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID [9] (rivalry)	W 27–24	23,701
November 26	No. 18 North Texas *	No. 3	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID [10] (Div. I-AA 1st Round)	W 24–20	14,706
December 3	No. 17 Appalachian State *	No. 3	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID [11] (Div. I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 17–14	15,302
December 10	No. 2 Marshall *	No. 3	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID [12] (Div. I-AA Semifinal)	W 28–24	20,068
December 17	vs. No. 1 Youngstown State *	No. 3	Marshall Stadium Huntington, WV [13] [14] (Div. I-AA Championship)	L 14–28	27,674
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

Source: ^[15]

Regular season

Coming off a 3–8 year in 1993, Boise State finished the 1994 regular season at 10–1 and 6–1 in conference to win their sixth Big Sky title, their first since the national championship season of 1980. The only blemish was a one-point loss at Idaho State in mid-October. ^[3] A convincing 38–14 win over top-ranked Montana in early November put the Broncos into the top ten. ^{[5] [6]} To complete the regular season, #6 BSU hosted third-ranked rival Idaho, ^[16] and won for the first time since 1981, breaking a twelve-game winning streak for the Vandals. ^[9] Both teams entered the game at 9–1 (and 5–1 in conference); they switched rankings for the next poll. ^[17]

Unranked at the start of the season, ^[18] Boise State finished third in the final poll, released prior to the playoffs. ^[17]

I-AA playoffs

Three Big Sky teams made the 16-team field for the I-AA playoffs: Boise State (10–1), Idaho (9–2), and Montana (9–2). Idaho lost a first round road game, and Montana won two home games before falling on the road to defending champion Youngstown State in the semifinals, foiling an all-Big Sky final. Conference MVP quarterback Dave Dickenson did not play due to an ankle injury, ^{[19] [20]} and the Griz lost 28–9. ^[21] The Penguins had defeated Idaho on the same field in the semifinals the previous season. ^[22] The Broncos hosted and won three close games, against North Texas, ^[10] Appalachian State, ^[11] and #2 Marshall to raise their overall record to 13–1. ^[12]

Prior to hosting their third straight playoff game at home (following the home game against Idaho), Allen promised to ride his horse down Boise's Broadway Avenue if the Marshall game had an attendance over 20,000. Allen fulfilled his promise two days after the game and rode westbound on University Drive, from Bronco Stadium at Broadway to the Student Union. ^[23]

In the I-AA finals five days later at Huntington, West Virginia, they were defeated by the defending champions, Jim Tressel's top-ranked Youngstown State, 28–14. ^{[13] [14]} The 15 games are the most Boise State ever played in one season, and finished at 13–2.

The 1994 season is known by BSU fans as The Magic Carpet Ride, as the Broncos won all ten home games on the blue AstroTurf of Bronco Stadium. This was Boise State's last Big Sky title in football and final appearance in the I-AA playoffs; BSU moved up to Division I-A and the Big West Conference in 1996.

Allen's cancer

Bothered by shoulder pain for about a month, Allen had outpatient surgery in Boise for a biopsy three days prior to the 1994 championship game, and was diagnosed two days after the game with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of muscle cancer. ^{[24] [25]}

The tumor in his upper right arm was removed in March and Allen underwent extensive chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant in July at the Fred Hutchinson Center in Seattle. ^[26] He returned to coach the Broncos in 1995 while going through treatment, and the cancer was declared in remission in December 1995, but the doctors warned of likely recurrence.

References

1. "Broncos stick NAU with fourth quarter surge". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 2, 1994. p. 4B.
2. "Boise St. 24, Weber St. 17". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 9, 1994. p. 5B.
3. "Bengals stun Boise State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. October 16, 1994. p. 4B.
4. "Boise St. 38, Montana St. 10". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 23, 1994. p. 4B.
5. "Broncos throw Griz". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 6, 1994. p. 4B.
6. "Sports Network I-AA Poll". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 8, 1994. p. 2B.
7. Sando, Mike (November 12, 1994). "Eastern runs into hard-charging Boise". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. C1.
8. "Boise St. 16, E. Washington 13". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 13, 1994. p. 5B.
9. Sahlberg, Bert (November 20, 1994). "End of the line". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
10. "Broncos fend off North Texas". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 27, 1994. p. 5B.
11. "Griz, BSU advance to semis". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 4, 1994. p. 5B.
12. "Boise State rallies to defeat Marshall". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 11, 1994. p. 5B.
13. "Youngstown St. powers past Boise St. in I-AA title game". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. December 19, 1994. p. 4C.
14. "Youngstown State wins". Sunday Gazette. Schenectady, New York. wire services. December 18, 1994. p. D3.
15. "1994 Boise State Broncos Schedule". CFBDataWarehouse.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
16. "Sports Network I-AA Poll". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 15, 1994. p. 2B.
17. "Sports Network Div. I-AA Poll". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 22, 1994. p. 2B.
18. "Sports Network Div. I-AA Poll". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. September 7, 1994. p. 2B.
19. "Montana minus Dickenson to meet defending I-AA champs". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. December 8, 1994. p. 3E.
20. "Montana heads east for I-AA playoff showdown". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. December 10, 1994. p. 1D.
21. "Youngstown State tops Griz". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 11, 1994. p. 5B.
22. Sahlberg, Bert (December 12, 1993). "Penguins put UI on ice". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
23. "Pokey Allen on horseback". Boise State University. (Albertsons Library digital collections). December 12, 1994. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
24. "BSU's Allen has cancer". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Idaho-Washington. Associated Press. December 21, 1994. p. 1B.
25. "Allen has tumor". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. December 21, 1994. p. C1.
26. "Allen in serious condition". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. July 5, 1995. p. D5.