By Josh Wolff
Aug. 10, 2008

In what was a memory-laden 2006 college football season, two memories seem to stand above the rest for college football fanatics — and they both occurred in the same game.

One: When underdog Boise State beat football powerhouse Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

Two: When Boise State’s star player proposed to his girlfriend on national TV just moments after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

Boise State RB Ian Johnson

“We won an ESPY, we won a BCS bowl from a mid-major conference and the things we did I am still just processing,” Johnson said. “We went from being nobodies to being recognized in airports and people asking us for autographs. It was something that, as a kid, I could never have imagined, it was a dream I lived.”

The story of Boise State’s ’06 season will go down as one of the most amazing and emotional seasons in college football history — finishing the year with a perfect 13-0 record. While its star player entered the Heisman Trophy conversation and made one of the most memorable moments in postgame TV history, it is a story that was lucky to even happen.

As the star football player for Damien High School in San Dimas, Calif., Johnson rushed for 1,751 yards and 23 touchdowns during his senior season. Despite gaining nearly eight yards per rush, being named All-Sierra League MVP and holding team captain honors, he was not recruited heavily.

At a little less than six feet tall and solidly built, Johnson looked the part of a college running back, but his high school coach withheld recruiting information from him and did not help him get into contact with schools.

After that coach was fired, the new coach was in the process of moving from Northern California and didn’t have time to help Johnson with a highlight tape, so Johnson had to make one himself.

There was Johnson and his mom in the family’s living room with two VCRs putting together his recruiting tape. It was a poor quality tape, Johnson admits, and it apparently did not have the bells and whistles to attract the attention of college coaches. Johnson had on and off contact with most Pac-10 schools and received offers from some Division I-AA football teams, including Idaho State.

With these nominal offers in mind, Johnson’s mindset shifted from going to a Division I school and instead trying the junior-college route with the hopes of playing his way into a Division I offer after a year or two.

With a bleak future ahead, his fortunes changed greatly when Johnson and his high school were scheduled to play rival high school Rancho Cucamonga. Manning the secondary for Rancho Cucamonga was DB Patrick Chung, a safety prospect on the recruiting radar for Boise State. In that game, Johnson rushed for more than 200 yards, outshining a player who would eventually sign with Oregon (and who is now a top NFL prospect).

When Boise State coaches talked with Chung after watching his film, they noticed the Damien running back slicing apart Chung’s defense.

Intrigued, the coaches asked Chung who the running back was and if it was worth their time to talk with him. Chung responded emphatically that the runner was Ian Johnson and he was very much worth their time.

Almost instantly, coaches from Boise State arrived at Johnson’s high school telling him they loved what they saw in Chung’s film and asked for more. Within two weeks, Johnson was offered a scholarship to Boise State.

“It was the first time that I felt a school wanted me as much as I wanted them,” Johnson said. “It’s almost a blessing that these schools passed on me. Even though it’s not the ideal way I would’ve liked it to happen, it’s the best thing that could have happened to me.”

It was not the most direct of routes to getting a college scholarship, but Johnson was a Bronco. He arrived at Boise State in 2004 with hopes of earning immediate playing time, but was redshirted. Naturally disappointed, instead of sulking, he used it as an opportunity to study the different running backs on Boise State’s roster — a group that included scatbacks, straight-ahead runners and pass protectors.

When football rolled around in ’05, Johnson earned time in a RB-by-committee offense and gained 663 yards with four touchdowns. Sharing time with the diverse cast of Broncos runners, he wanted to incorporate the different strengths of his teammates into his own game to become a complete running back.

“My parents taught me to be a sponge of those around you and I took in from all the running backs,” Johnson said. “I learned as much as I could from those guys and then it came to a point where they needed one person who had all the ability and that was me because I was able to sit back and learn from all these guys who had done it for four or five years.”

Named the starter during his sophomore season, Johnson and his team proved to be the real deal in the second game of the season after demolishing Oregon State — a team that would finish the season 10-4, including a win against USC. The Broncos destroyed the Beavers 42-14, and Johnson rolled up 240 rushing yards and five touchdowns. 

“After that game, I think the one thing we really learned about Ian was that he was a lot faster than we thought,” said Bryan Harsin, Boise State’s offensive coordinator. “He was able to run away from some guys who we thought were really good players on Oregon State’s defense and he just pulled away from them.” 

In the course of Boise State running the table in the regular season, Johnson led the nation in rushing touchdowns with 25 and amassed 1,713 rushing yards, and finished eighth in the 2006 Heisman race — an impressive feat for a sophomore from a non-BCS school.

His tremendous season didn’t shock his teammates, including OT Ryan Clady, a first-round pick by the Denver Broncos this past April.

“He’s got great vision and he’s got good speed,” Clady said. “He may not have the best 40-(yard-dash), but on the field he’s going to run away from guys and that is the type of player you need, so his success wasn’t a surprise.”

Johnson’s lofty rushing totals and the Broncos’ terrific season aside, they came into the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma as steep underdogs.

“We put on the backburner anything negative said about us,” Johnson said. “We just said, ‘Play our game and don’t let the game be bigger than what it is.’ ”

In what was billed as a David vs. Goliath matchup, Johnson says he didn’t buy the media’s opinion that Boise State didn’t deserve to play in a BCS bowl game.

“I wouldn’t call myself an arrogant person,” Johnson said, “but I always believe we deserve to be where we are. The feeling around the whole team was that we worked hard, we’ve earned this and this is where we deserve to be.”

The Fiesta Bowl was a back-and-forth game, and after many twists and turns, Boise State forced overtime, thanks to a hook-and-ladder play. After Oklahoma took the lead in overtime, Boise State scored to draw within one point and had a choice: play it safe and kick an extra point to send the game to a second OT or try to win the game.

Johnson recalls that after the coaching staff elected to go for the win with the two-point conversion, the team was confident the selected play was going to work. With a win in a BCS bowl game — and perhaps the greatest bowl upset in history — in his hands, Johnson wasn’t thinking about the endzone after breaking the huddle.

“I was just hoping not to trip or fall down at the one-yard line and be that guy who lost the game,” Johnson said with a laugh.

As QB Jared Zabransky handed the ball off to Johnson, he saw daylight in front of him and scored the game-winning two-point conversion. A flood of emotion ensued, Johnson says, and then the moment that transcends sports arrived.

A running joke between team liaisons was that Johnson was going to help Boise State win the Fiesta Bowl, be named the game’s MVP and then propose to his girlfriend, which he had planned to do shortly after the season at Laguna Beach in California. Even though he didn’t win the MVP, Johnson didn’t care and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the nation and lifted himself into college football history.

He was now a national icon, appearing on TV shows across the country, getting stopped in airports by people who wanted pictures with him. And he was still just a sophomore in college.

Although Johnson’s junior year didn’t quite live up to his expectations — how could he truly follow up ’06? — he still rushed for 1,041 yards with 16 touchdowns despite missing two games with a bruised kidney. While Johnson seems like he has been in the media spotlight for many years, his senior season still remains — a season when he hopes to prove to NFL personnel that his future belongs in playing on Sundays.

“I believe I have a lot to offer and a very good chance at making it to the next level,” Johnson said. “I know I have to go out and produce for another year, but I feel like if I go out and have another stellar year, it will only help my chances to make it to the next level, which is definitely a dream of mine and something I really want to do.”

And while many NFL players make as much news off the field as they do on, Johnson is the epitome of a high-character athlete. He rarely goes out, saying he is a homebody who enjoys lying low and just loves to play football.

“I think it’s a shame that character is so rare to find,” Johnson said. “I always see so much negative stuff and it’s so sad that people say you’re one of the good guys. When I grew up, there was nothing but good guys, but I am glad I followed that trend.”

Clady, who during his short time in the NFL with the Broncos has watched pro running backs like Selvin Young, Michael Pittman and Ryan Torain, says that Johnson will find his fit in the NFL.

“He’s a great running back, he’s real patient and waits for the holes to open up. I think his game will translate well because he’s a good back and he’ll prove himself at the NFL level.”

With all that followed his breakout season in 2006, including his marriage, Johnson says he is just realizing now that the NFL is within his grasp.

“It’s one of the things that was never in my mind until this summer,” Johnson said. “I am so excited because I will be able to graduate and be done, and I am just excited for all the options and opportunities in front of me. I just want to hit it running and give my best effort for everything laid in front of me, including the NFL.”

Although Johnson is big enough, strong enough and fast enough to play in the NFL, he might not have the superstar measurables of a guy like Adrian Peterson or LaDainian Tomlinson. However, when the light is shining bright on Saturdays, he’s one of the best at picking up rushing yards, finding the endzone and leading his team to victory.

“The one thing about Ian is that he’s a playmaker,” Harsin said. “Everybody has a different opinion of that … but he makes big things happen in big-time games. That’s the bottom line, when you play football in big-time games, big-time players make plays and he does it.”