BSU has one last monkey on its back

SEATTLE – Yes, life’s been great for Boise State.

The Broncos have a 14-game winning streak, the longest in major college football.

Their wild upset of Oklahoma in the Bowl Championship Series – capped by a sideline marriage proposal by their star tailback – was the feel-good hit of last season.

There’s even a feature-length film on their Fiesta Bowl fairy tale in the works.

Still, No. 22 Boise State can do something it’s never done today against Washington.

The Broncos have never beaten a team from one of the big six conferences on the road. They are 0-12 in the big boys’ backyards.

A crowd of about 70,000 – more than twice the capacity of Bronco Stadium – is expected at Husky Stadium for the home debut of heralded redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker, who had a dynamic debut last week in a 30-point win at Syracuse.

It could be UW’s largest home turnout since 2003, its last non-losing season.

The Broncos have an .856 winning percentage (77-13) that is best in major college football since 2000 and the feeling they have little left to prove.

“We just have to go out there and play well and let the guys who are supposedly so much smarter than us decide what it means for us at the end,” said Ian Johnson, the newly married running back.

Tyrone Willingham, 8-16 in his third season as Washington’s coach, said the Broncos don’t need a road win to validate themselves.

“I think they’ve kind of erased that with the bowl game,” Willingham said.

Boise State is a three-point favorite, a rare instance that a Pac-10 team is a home underdog to a team from the Western Athletic Conference.

Chris Petersen’s array of formations, presnap motion and trick plays will challenge a Washington defense that has three starters in the secondary who had never started for the Huskies until last week.

For all Boise State’s famous tricks, Johnson drives the offense in a conventional fashion with power running between the tackles.