As a freshman, Zach Wilson nearly gave BYU its first-ever win at Boise State. Almost 3 years later, can he finish the job?

BOISE — Zach Wilson was on the verge of becoming a BYU legend.

Less than a year after flipping his commitment from Boise State and staying close to home by signing with BYU, the freshman quarterback was leading a last-minute drive on the blue turf, down 21-16 with the Cougars searching for their first win over the Broncos at Albertsons Stadium.

A ridiculous 59-yard strike to Dylan Collie pulled BYU inside the 15-yard line. A short scramble for first down by the freshman signal-caller pulled them to the 2-yard line. With seven seconds left, Boise State called timeout.

The Broncos' undefeated home streak against BYU was in jeopardy, but Boise just needed one final defensive play.

After the timeout, Tyson Maeva and Scale Igiehon broke through the offensive line, downed Wilson for a loss of 2 yards, and sacked Wilson to hold on.

Game over.

Wilson's dream was over.

"That was a pretty exciting game, wasn't it?" Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said after the win two years ago. "Bottom line is our guys found a way to win. We made one more play than they did to win the game.

"I'm really proud of our team, but I have a lot of respect for BYU. I always do."

Two years after the heartbreak in Boise, where Wilson's stardom was beginning to rise, the darkhorse Heisman hopeful has led now-No. 9 BYU back to Boise, where a win over the 21st-ranked Broncos (2-0) could catapult the Cougars into the New Year's Six bowl game conversation and an outside shot at the College Football Playoff.

Will the Corner Canyon product make the most of another crack at history?

"I'm really not reflecting on the past at all," Wilson said after a 49-10 win over Western Kentucky that preceded Friday night's showdown (7:45 p.m. MT, FS1). "We've got a new team, and they've got a new team. But it's a great opportunity for us. That's a great football team, and they do well at home. It's a big week for us. This is a good football team we've got to face."

Wilson won't reflect on the past. But we can.

Blue to blue

Wilson's family was bleeding blue.

After growing up in a heavily pro-Utes home, the son of former University of Utah defensive lineman Mike Wilson had committed to Harsin and the Broncos and was more than content in his choice. His family had made the switch from red to blue, but only because it involved their son and the shade of blue eponymous with the turf that apocryphally kills ducks in the Treasure Valley.

He was all in.

"I remember when he was committed to Boise, I went to a camp up there and he was always trying to convince me to go up there," said former Bingham High receiver Dax Milne, who eventually walked on at BYU and has since become one of Wilson's go-to targets with the Cougars. "When he de-committed to there and talked about going to BYU, he'd talk to me and Brayden Cosper to come here and how we could live together.

"I'm glad it all worked out."

Wilson and his family loved Boise State. They loved what the program was about, and what Harsin was building. The family was content to don Boise blue and cheer on their son all week, while keeping the season tickets and red allegiance on home weekends at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

So the change was as stark as it was stunning. As he began receiving recruiting interest from the likes of Cal, Iowa and Oregon State, Wilson took a last-minute recruiting visit to Provo. He sat in head coach Kalani Sitake's office shortly after the coach had fired his offensive coordinator, former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, and brought in offensive line guru Jeff Grimes.

Sitake wanted Wilson. Grimes wanted Wilson. Aaron Roderick, the former Utah co-offensive coordinator and one-time BYU receiver, would also want Wilson.

Did Wilson want BYU?

"It was crazy," Wilson said nearly three years ago. "There were a lot of schools coming in late, and a lot that I really considered growing up. When you get those opportunities, you have to consider them."

In a move that was stunning at the time, he more than considered the Cougars. Wilson signed on the dotted line less than a month later, sending in his national letter of intent to BYU while surrounded by friends and family in his parents' basement, with memorabilia of Utah football all around him and his dyed-in-the-wool Ute fan grandparents preserving a front-row seat.

"We started with pro and con lists," Wilson's mother Lisa told KSL.com after the commitment. "In the beginning, the only con to BYU was that we hated BYU.

"It was a big con. We were stressed out."

In the end, BYU won out. Coming off a 4-9 season and a complete overhaul of the offensive staff, Sitake had his quarterback of the future.

Wilson soon became the quarterback of the present, too.

"I knew he was a great player," said Sitake this week, reflecting on how he first met Wilson when he was linebackers coach and eventually defensive coordinator at Utah. "You just know that there's something about him — there was something I really liked, and I knew him since he was a kid. I got to see him grow up, to run his high school program, and I know the family he comes from. I realized he could be a great addition to what we do here. I like the way he was raised, and it's probably why we signed his little brother, too.

"It's a foundation of hard work, and that's what Zach gives us."

History unfulfilled

Fast forward to November 2018, when Wilson was three weeks into his run as starting quarterback at BYU after supplanting Tanner Mangum. After piling up 474 yards and 45 points in his starting debut against Hawaii, Wilson and the offense sputtered in back-to-back games before heading to Boise.

The Broncos jumped out to a 14-0 lead and led 14-6 at halftime. Then Wilson scrambled into the end zone on third-and-goal from the Boise 4-yard line, scoring his first touchdown in three weeks, and pulling the Cougars within one, 14-13.

Boise State responded with a 16-play, 79-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown from Alexander Mattison with 1:44 left in the third.

But the Cougars had a chance. The Broncos had just 11 total yards over seven plays on their next two drives, and Wilson got the ball back with 2:05 remaining and down by five points.

He started driving, orchestrating an offense between running backs Matt Hadley and Lopini Katoa and stretching the field with Collie. That set up a wild final 15 seconds, an interminable length as Boise State stopped the clock with two timeouts and Wilson added another first down to the 2-yard line on a short run.

But the drive fizzled on the final play, a sack, extinguishing the Cougars' hopes at a historic comeback — what would've been (should've been?) their first-ever win on the blue turf.

"We needed to make one more play than they did and we failed to do that," Sitake said after the late stand near the goal line. "This one hurt a little bit."

Two years later, it still stings. Even after a 28-25 win over then-No. 14 Boise State that ended the Broncos' bid for a perfect season does little to hide the sting of being on the other side of the loss on a cold night in Boise.

"It's painful to think about," Milne said. "I wanted to go right up to Zach and tell him it's alright. He really took it hard; I think everyone took it hard. I know that sticks in his mind, and it's probably a motivational factor in his mind.

"I know it still stings for him."

Another chance

It's been said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

But after that impression in Wilson's freshman season, his star has shined grown brighter. Alongside a physically imposing and experienced offensive line and with weapons like Milne's 706 yards and six touchdowns and twin tailbacks Katoa and Tyler Allgeier, Wilson has completed 75% of his passes for 2,152 yards and 19 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He recently surpassed former BYU great Steve Young for the most consecutive passes without an interception.

But the big win has eluded BYU's season so far. Victory over the Broncos, a top-25 team and consistent regional rival that owns a 7-3 record all-time over the Cougars, would be just that.

Boise State won't make it easy. Friday night's result will likely be the toughest test of the season for both sides, one with New Year's Six aspirations and the other out to maintain its stranglehold on Mountain West titles, having four trips to the championship games in two titles in the last five years.

Three years ago, Wilson and Harsin crossed paths in recruiting.

On Friday, their paths will define a season — whether the coach knew it then or not.

"You never know with a freshman," Harsin said. "I thought when we recruited him that he had really good athleticism, that he could throw, I liked his demeanor and he was a really good fit for us. That was obviously as far as it went at the time.

"I think he's worked really hard. He had the injury, and the staff has done a really good job with him. But Zach has proven that he has the physical capability, and it's showing. He's got the guys around him, too."

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