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Zabransky takes center stage
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Every football season acts as a farewell tour for another Boise State senior class. While every game is important, there are always one or two games on a schedule that stand
out as the one players want to play their best in.
For senior quarterback Jared Zabransky, one last game against Oregon State is one last chance to make sure the Beavers realize what they could have had if they’d taken a chance on him four years ago.
Zabransky grew up playing football in a small Northeast Oregon town, looking at Oregon State as one of the programs he would one day like to be a part of. Despite a great high school career at Hermiston High School, neither the University of Oregon nor Oregon State showed much interest in the budding star.
Being faced with limited options, Zabransky picked Boise State and has never looked back on his way to a record book career at BSU.
“It basically came down to here and (University of) Idaho because they were my only two offers,” Zabransky said.
“Them (Oregon State ) and Oregon both recruited me, but it wasn’t anything special. Oregon State asked me to walk on real late, but there was no chance of that. I’m glad I came here, and I wouldn’t change it for anything else.”
This year’s meeting with OSU will be the third time Zabransky has faced the Beavers as a starter. In the previous two games, Jared has done his fair share of damage to the Oregon State defense.
In 2004 Zabransky completed 20 of 34 passes for 225 yards with three touchdowns. Jared also rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown in route to a 53-34 win.
Last year Zabransky’s performance was almost identical, throwing for 233 yards and three touchdowns with 19 completions on 36 attempts in the 30-27 Bronco loss.
With one final showdown coming on Thursday night, Zabransky is hopeful that his final game against OSU will be his best. A task, however, that won’t be easy to complete.
“I feel a little extra motivated to get after these guys,” Zabransky said. “Everybody that comes to Boise State was slightly over looked or they’re from a small school that didn’t get any looks. All of us feel like we’re big time players so it’s kind of a “chip on the shoulder” mentality.”
In his two seasons leading the Bronco offense with a chip on his shoulder, Zabransky has found his way into the top five in the BSU record books for total offensive yards during a season and a career, as well as top five for single season passing yards and career passing yards.
Jared also landed in the top five for single season completions in both 2004 and 2005. Needless to say, Zabransky has proved his worth to everyone that over looked him in high school, including of course Oregon State.
As for the rest of the team, Oregon State will give the Broncos a perfect opportunity to evaluate their progress from the end of last year. Having a game against a team from a major conference year in and year out gives BSU a chance to gauge their progress on a national level. A win against a program like Oregon State will also bring increased credibility to the Western Athletic Conference, helping Boise State’s push to a Bowl Championship Series bowl game.
” You know we need to take advantage of the opportunities,” Zabransky said. “The WAC had a pretty good showing last week, even though we didn’t win very many games. That’s something we have to do to help this conference out and gain a little more respect. But you know, we’re focused on what we have to do, we have to play well against Oregon State. If those other teams win, that’s good for them, but we’re really focused on Oregon State.”
Thursday’s game against OSU will be the fourth meeting between the two teams in as many seasons. Despite the recent growth in the rivalry, however, OSU isn’t on Boise State’s schedule for any seasons in the near future.
The absence of the Beavers could end up leaving a void in the Bronco schedule for years to come.
“We feel like we match up very well with these guys,” Zabransky said. “Every time we have the opportunity to play at Pac-10 team, especially getting them at home two years out of the four is a great opportunity for us.”I think it’s become a rivalry,” Zabransky said. “Any time you have two pretty evenly matched teams, that come out and want to win the football game and want to play hard; it turns into good football games, exciting football games. I think that kind of builds a rivalry. I would be excited to see them try and keep it on the schedule.”
So with all the story lines surrounding this year’s game and the game being the last between these two great football programs for at least a couple years; it is only fitting that the Oregon grown boy will be leading Boise State down the field Thursday night.
“This has been a great piece of my history,” Zabransky said. “To play an Oregon school, and to play them as tough as we have. It’s something that I will treasure forever."
Jake Garcin
