Final
Hartman's game-winning FG carries East Carolina to win
Dec 24, 2007 - 6:21 AM HONOLULU (Ticker) -- East Carolina had to sweat it out, but its bowl drought is finally over.Ben Hartman kicked the game-winning 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to lift the Pirates to a thrilling 41-38 victory over No. 24 Boise State in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Sunday.
It was East Carolina's first bowl win since defeating Texas Tech, 40-27, in the now defunked Galleryfurniture.com Bowl back in 2000.
The Pirates (8-5) were enjoying a commanding 38-14 edge following Brandon Simmons' 3-yard touchdown run with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Broncos (10-3) made things interesting in the fourth when D.J. Harper cut the deficit to 38-31 with 7:09 remaining on a one-yard touchdown.
Things continued to spiral for East Carolina when Chris Johnson's fumble was returned 47 yards for the score by Marty Tadman to tie the game at 38-38 with 1:25 left.
"That just happens to a running back," Johnson said. "I was just trying to run hard and cut up for the first down. I had the first down, but I didn't have two hands on the ball and it popped out. I just felt that I let the team down, but when I got to the sideline, they all had my back."
But the Pirates regrouped for the final drive of the game.
"We knew that they could come back and ironically it was (Johnson's) first fumble of the year and they were able to tie the game," Pirates coach Skip Holtz said. "But we didn't give up and we remained intense. I am very proud of this team." On third-and-eight, backup Rob Kass completed 36-yard strike to keep East Carolina's hope alive. After two rushing attempts, the Pirates called upon Hartman for his late-game heroics.
"After I went through my whole routine, I missed a lot of kicks this year by not keeping my head down and I had to just mentally tattoo it to myself," Hartman said. "I felt good going out there. I felt very confident. I just knew that if I did my thing, it was going to go in."
"It was a hard fought game and we knew that (the Broncos) would score points with their good offense," Johnson said. "We just had to stay focused all game and we got the win."
Despite his late-game fumble, Johnson was stellar en route to establishing a new all-purpose yards record in a bowl game with 408 yards to pass the mark previously held by Sherman Williams (Alabama) in the 1995 Citrus Bowl.
Johnson carried 28 times for 224 yards, including a 68-yard TD in the first quarter to give East Carolina a 10-7 edge with 4:25 left.
"It was really emotional," Johnson said. "They were saying that they didn't know who we were and didn't know the program and we took that to heart and wanted to show who we were. And to show that the year that they beat Oklahoma was a different team. We came with a chip on our shoulder."
The Pirates continued to pound the ball in the second as Dominique Lindsay scored on a 3-yard run with 12:31 remaining, while Johnson found the end zone once again through the air on an 18-yard pass from Patrick Pinkney four minutes later to make it 24-7.
With 33 seconds left before the break, Lindsay completed the huge second-quarter outburst with another 3-yard scamper to extend the lead to 31-14 at intermission.
East Carolina's Pinkney went 12-of-19 for 118 yards.
"We started playing from the get go and we just continued to be aggressive," said Pinkney, who also ran for 64 yards. "We just jumped out fast and never gave up."
Boise State finished with just 98 rushing yards due to the limited action of standout tailback Ian Johnson, who had just 11 because of a leg injury sustained in practice on Tuesday.
"I had some big shoes to fill, but I just did what the team needed me to do and I sacrifice my body to make good plays," Broncos running back Jeremy Avery said.
"Ian was an emergency guy for us this game," Peterson said. "With his injury, we knew that he wouldn't be as effective as our other backs. He was better that we thought (Sunday), but Jeremy was healthy and we knew that he gave us a better chance."
Broncos quarterback Taylor Tharp completed 30-of-44 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
"We are always a fast starting team and we almost always move that ball well on our first drive of the game, but we were just not ready to go and we were not clicking," Tharp said.
Boise State had a golden opportunity to slice the deficit to 10 at the break, but Tanyon Bissell dropped a would-be touchdown from Tharp at the horn.
Austin Smith's impressive 89-yard kickoff return in the opening quarter helped the Broncos grabbed their only lead of the game, 7-3, with 8:10 to go.
- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BOISE ST (24) 7 7 10 14 38
EAST CAROLINA 10 21 7 3 41 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: EAST CAROLINA - FG, BEN HARTMAN 36 YD, 6:38. EAST
CAROLINA 3-0
BOISE ST - TD, AUSTIN SMITH 89 YD KICKOFF
RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK),
6:50. BOISE ST 7-3
EAST CARO
Dec 23 11:44 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
FG EAST CAROLINA
BEN HARTMAN 34 YD
BOISE ST (24) 38
EAST CAROLINA 41 0:00 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Dec 23 11:43 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
FG EAST CAROLINA
BEN HARTMAN 34 YD
BOISE ST (24) 38
EAST CAROLINA 41 0:00 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:43 PM - 191
roots - a3017 This game was totally not on my "must watch" list... until now.
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:37 PM - 166
roots
TD BOISE ST MARTY TADMAN 47 YD FUMBLE RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:34 PM
TD BOISE ST MARTY TADMAN 47 YD FUMBLE RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:34 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD BOISE ST
MARTY TADMAN 47 YD FUMBLE RETURN
(KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 38
EAST CAROLINA 38 1:25 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:34 PM - 139
roots
TD BOISE ST D.J. HARPER 1 YD RUN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:11 PM
TD BOISE ST D.J. HARPER 1 YD RUN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:11 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD BOISE ST
D.J. HARPER 1 YD RUN
(KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 31
EAST CAROLINA 38 7:09 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 11:11 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF END, 3RD QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BOISE ST (24) 7 7 10 24
EAST CAROLINA 10 21 7 38 END, 3RD QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: EAST CAROLINA - FG, BEN HARTMAN 36 YD, 6:38. EAST
CAROLINA 3-0
BOISE ST - TD, AUSTIN SMITH 89 YD KICKOFF
RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK),
6:50. BOISE ST 7-3
Dec 23 10:38 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
FG BOISE ST
KYLE BROTZMAN 31 YD
BOISE ST (24) 24
EAST CAROLINA 38 3:11 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:30 PM
TD BOISE ST JEREMY AVERY 25 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:16 PM
TD BOISE ST JEREMY AVERY 25 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:16 PM
TD BOISE ST JEREMY AVERY 25 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:16 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD BOISE ST
JEREMY AVERY 25 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP
(KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 21
EAST CAROLINA 38 8:10 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:16 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA BRANDON SIMMONS 3 YD RUN (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:10 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA BRANDON SIMMONS 3 YD RUN (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:10 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD EAST CAROLINA
BRANDON SIMMONS 3 YD RUN
(BEN HARTMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 14
EAST CAROLINA 38 9:02 LEFT, 3RD QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 10:10 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HALFTIME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BOISE ST (24) 7 7 14
EAST CAROLINA 10 21 31 HALFTIME
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: EAST CAROLINA - FG, BEN HARTMAN 36 YD, 6:38. EAST
CAROLINA 3-0
BOISE ST - TD, AUSTIN SMITH 89 YD KICKOFF
RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK),
6:50. BOISE ST 7-3
EAST
Dec 23 9:38 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA DOMINIQUE LINDSAY 3 YD RUN (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:34 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA DOMINIQUE LINDSAY 3 YD RUN (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:34 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD EAST CAROLINA
DOMINIQUE LINDSAY 3 YD RUN
(BEN HARTMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 14
EAST CAROLINA 31 0:33 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:34 PM
TD BOISE ST RYAN PUTNAM 3 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:21 PM
TD BOISE ST RYAN PUTNAM 3 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:21 PM
TD BOISE ST RYAN PUTNAM 3 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:21 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD BOISE ST
RYAN PUTNAM 3 YD PASS FROM TAYLOR THARP
(KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 14
EAST CAROLINA 24 4:18 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:21 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA CHRIS JOHNSON 18 YD PASS FROM PATRICK PINKNEY (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:07 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA CHRIS JOHNSON 18 YD PASS FROM PATRICK PINKNEY (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:07 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA CHRIS JOHNSON 18 YD PASS FROM PATRICK PINKNEY (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:07 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD EAST CAROLINA
CHRIS JOHNSON 18 YD PASS FROM PATRICK PINKNEY
(BEN HARTMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 7
EAST CAROLINA 24 8:51 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 9:07 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF BOISE ST (24) 7
EAST CAROLINA 17 11:00 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:59 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF END, 1ST QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
BOISE ST (24) 7 7
EAST CAROLINA 10 10 END, 1ST QTR
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER: EAST CAROLINA - FG, BEN HARTMAN 36 YD, 6:38. EAST
CAROLINA 3-0
BOISE ST - TD, AUSTIN SMITH 89 YD KICKOFF
RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK),
6:50. BOISE ST 7-3
Dec 23 8:46 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA CHRIS JOHNSON 68 YD RUN (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:38 PM
TD EAST CAROLINA CHRIS JOHNSON 68 YD RUN (BEN HARTMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:38 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD EAST CAROLINA
CHRIS JOHNSON 68 YD RUN
(BEN HARTMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 7
EAST CAROLINA 10 4:25 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:38 PM
TD BOISE ST AUSTIN SMITH 89 YD KICKOFF RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:21 PM
TD BOISE ST AUSTIN SMITH 89 YD KICKOFF RETURN (KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:21 PM- HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
TD BOISE ST
AUSTIN SMITH 89 YD KICKOFF RETURN
(KYLE BROTZMAN KICK)
BOISE ST (24) 7
EAST CAROLINA 3 8:10 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:21 PM - HAWAII BOWL
AT HONOLULU
NCAAF HAWAII BOWL
FG EAST CAROLINA
BEN HARTMAN 36 YD
BOISE ST (24) 0
EAST CAROLINA 3 8:22 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Boise State(24) vs. East CarolinaDec 23 8:18 PM
Related News
- College Football Bowl Game Best Bets for Friday & Saturday (12/16 – 12/17) Dec 14
- Fresno State vs. Boise State: College Football Conference Championships Odds, Picks & Predictions (2022) Dec 1
- College Football Conference Championship Week Odds, Picks & Predictions: Under-the-Radar Plays (2022) Nov 30
- College Football Week 13 Odds, Picks & Predictions: Utah State vs. Boise State (Friday) Nov 25
- College Football Week 13 Totals Best Bets & IsoPPP (2022) Nov 24
- College Football Week 12 Odds, Picks & Predictions: Longshot Bets (2022) Nov 17
- College Football Week 12 Parlay Odds, Picks & Predictions (2022) Nov 16
- Thor Nystrom’s Best College Football Week 11 Bets (2022) Nov 10
- College Football Week 11 Odds, Picks & Predictions: East Carolina vs. Cincinnati (Friday) Nov 10
- College Football Week 10 Picks & Predictions (2022) Nov 4
- Thor Nystrom’s Best College Football Week 10 Bets (2022) Nov 3