Anthony Martinez kicked a 34-yard field goal in overtime Friday night, capping a Nevada comeback that gave the Wolf Pack a wild 34-31 win over previously unbeaten No. 3 Boise State.

The kick came after Boise State's kicker missed a 26-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in regulation and another from 29 yards in overtime. It snapped Boise State's 24-game winning streak and ended any hopes that the Broncos (10-1, 6-1 Western Athletic Conference) would play in the BCS title game.

In fact, now the Broncos can pretty much forget about playing in any BCS game. On the verge of playing in a big game with a win, they will likely be relegated to the Humanitarian Bowl, played on their own blue field in Boise, or the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco. That's good news for TCU, which was at risk of being nudged out of an automatic BCS bid by Boise State even if it completed an unbeaten season on Saturday by beating lowly Mountain West Conference rival New Mexico.

Such is life for teams from the conferences without automatic BCS bids.

"We had a chance to win it," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. "You play two evenly matched teams it usually comes down to a couple of plays. It's tough, it probably shouldn't have come down to that."

No. 19 Nevada won't get a BCS bowl bid, either, but that didn't stop the overflow crowd at Mackay Stadium from celebrating the improbable win by their team, which was a 14-point underdog and had lost 10 straight games to Boise State.

"It is the greatest victory this university has ever had, I can tell you that," Nevada coach Chris Ault said.

Nevada (11-1, 6-1) rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to tie the game with 13 seconds left on a 7-yard pass to Rishard Mathews, who had two second-half touchdowns for the Wolf Pack. But Boise State (10-1, 6-1) appeared poised to pull the game out after Kellen Moore hit Titus Young with a 53-yard pass on the first play of scrimmage after the score.

Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman, who leads all active players in career scoring, pushed the short kick right, sending the game into overtime. Nevada won the coin toss and deferred and Brotzman came out to try another field goal, but pulled it left.

Martinez, a redshirt freshman, came on after Nevada's drive stalled, then calmly stroked the ball down the middle and the celebration began.

"We're a team of destiny," Ault said. "When he missed that field goal I said, 'Here we go guys, we got it now.'"

The loss for Boise State was the first since the Broncos lost in the 2008 Poinsetta Bowl to TCU, and it came in the most improbable fashion. Boise State built up a 24-7 halftime lead and appeared on its way to a dominating win, but its offense stalled in the third quarter and Nevada began finding the rhythm with its punishing running attack.

Boise State came into the game second in total defense, allowing only 229 yards a game. Nevada had more than that on the ground alone, racking up 288 yards behind running back Vai Taua and quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who also passed for 259 yards.

Nevada was still down 24-14 entering the fourth quarter when Rishard Matthews took the ball 44 yards on an end around to make the game close. Boise State then punted for the fourth time in the second half, and the Wolf Pack drove 93 yards to tie the game on a field goal by Martinez with a 23-yard field goal with 5:14 left.

But Boise State came back on the next play from scrimmage to score on a 79-yard screen pass to Doug Martin. Nevada then took the ball and marched down the field to score the tying touchdown, setting up the wild finish.

"I'm at a loss for words," said Moore, who suffered only his second loss in 38 games as Boise State's quarterback. "Hopefully we'll learn something from this."

It was Nevada's defense that kept the Wolf Pack in the game, shutting Boise State out in the second half before Martin's score. But it was Matthews who was the star of the night, catching 10 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown, while running for another score.

Two missed kicks and Boise State went from being the darling of BCS busters everywhere to just another team looking for a bowl game.

After winning 24 straight games, maybe it was just not meant to be.

Nevada roared back from a 17-point halftime deficit Friday night, beating No. 3 Boise State 34-31 in overtime in a wild game for the Wolf Pack's biggest win ever. It snapped Boise State's winning streak and ended any hopes the Broncos would play in the BCS title game.

A game that the Broncos seemingly had in hand slipped away when normally efficient kicker Kyle Brotzman missed a 26-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in regulation and another from 29 yards in overtime. Nevada's redshirt freshman kicker Anthony Martinez didn't miss his chance in overtime, hitting a 34-yarder that touched off a jubilant celebration from a soldout crowd on the Nevada campus.

"We had a chance to win it," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said. "You play two evenly matched teams it usually comes down to a couple of plays. It's tough, it probably shouldn't have come down to that."

In the space of one bad half, the Broncos (10-1, 6-1 Western Athletic Conference) most likely lost out on playing in any BCS bowl. On the verge of playing in a big game with a win, they will likely be relegated to the Humanitarian Bowl, played on their own blue field in Boise, or the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco. That's good news for TCU, which was at risk of being nudged out of an automatic BCS bid by Boise State even if it completed an unbeaten season on Saturday by beating lowly Mountain West Conference rival New Mexico.

No. 19 Nevada won't get a BCS invite, either, because that is life for schools not in automatic qualifier conferences. But that didn't stop the overflow crowd at Mackay Stadium from celebrating the improbable win by their team, which was a 14-point underdog and had lost 10 straight games to Boise State.

"It is the greatest victory this university has ever had, I can tell you that," Nevada coach Chris Ault said.

Nevada (11-1, 6-1) rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to tie the game with 13 seconds left on a 7-yard pass to Rishard Mathews, who had two second-half touchdowns for the Wolf Pack. But Boise State appeared poised to pull the game out after Kellen Moore hit Titus Young with a 53-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage after the score.
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Brotzman, who leads all active players in career scoring, pushed the short kick right, sending the game into overtime. Nevada won the coin toss and deferred and Brotzman came out to try another field goal, but pulled it left.

"To be honest, I was on a knee on the sideline praying, hoping we'd get another shot," said Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who passed for 259 yards and ran for a score.

Martinez, a redshirt freshman, came on after Nevada's drive stalled, then calmly stroked the ball down the middle and the celebration began.

"We're a team of destiny," Ault said. "When he missed that field goal I said, 'Here we go guys, we got it now.'"

The loss for Boise State was the first since the Broncos lost in the 2008 Poinsetta Bowl to TCU, and it came in the most improbable fashion. Boise State built up a 24-7 halftime lead and appeared on its way to a dominating win, but its offense stalled in the third quarter and Nevada began finding the rhythm with its punishing running attack.

After being held in check by Boise State's defense in the first half, Nevada outrushed Boise State 239-8 in the second.

Boise State came into the game second in total defense, allowing only 229 yards a game. Nevada had more than that on the ground alone, racking up 288 yards behind Vai Taua and Kaepernick.

Nevada was still down 24-14 entering the fourth quarter when Mathews took the ball 44 yards on an end around to make the game close. Boise State then punted for the fourth time in the second half, and the Wolf Pack drove 93 yards to tie the game on a field goal by Martinez with a 23-yard field goal with 5:14 left.

But Boise State came back on the next play from scrimmage to score on a 79-yard screen pass to Doug Martin. Nevada then took the ball and marched down the field to score the tying touchdown, setting up the wild finish.

"I'm at a loss for words," said Moore, who suffered only his second loss in 38 games as Boise State's quarterback. "Hopefully we'll learn something from this."

It was Nevada's defense that kept the Wolf Pack in the game, shutting Boise State out in the second half before Martin's score. But it was Mathews who was the star of the night, catching 10 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown, while running for another score.

I am rarely up at 2 in the morning, but now it is 2:33 and I am wide awake.

The old Wide World of Sports program would begin each show with a narrative that included, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." A cynic might wonder how agonizing can defeat be. It is just a game.

Tell that to a fellow named Kyle Brotzman. I am up because I wanted to see Boise State University play a game against the University of Nevada at Reno. Boise State has been heralded all season as the little engine that could. A team from the regularly dissed Western Athletic Conference (WAC) that had not lost a game in two years. Earlier this season it beat Virginia Tech in Virginia, and since then Boise State has mowed down every one of its opponents, attempting en route to dispell the idea that all they play in the WAC are patsies. All Boise State had to do was beat Nevada, a very good team itself having lost only one game this season, to have a shot at being part of the discussion regarding the best team in the land.

As has been typical, they went way ahead and led Nevada 24-7 at the half. But then Nevada playing at home with wild fans rooting them on, came back and tied the game with only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. In true championship form, Boise State came right back to go ahead 31-24. Then in true championship form, Nevada tied it at 31-31. With nine seconds to go, Boise came out and threw a hail Mary, an expression used to refer to a prayer that might be answered. Someone up there was listening and a player for Boise made a beautiful catch with two seconds left on the 9 yard line.

Enter Kyle Brotzman, the regular kicker for Boise State and an excellent one. After a delay to check and see if the time was correct, Brotzman lined up for what would have been the last play of the game, a dead ahead 26 yard field goal. Incredibly he missed it. The ball went wide right and Brotzman berated himself as he walked to the sideline.

In overtime, Boise State moved the ball to the 9 yard line. In came Brotzman to kick another 26 yard field goal. This one he hooks to the left.

Out comes Nevada and they get in position to kick a thirty yard field goal which goes in. End of national championship season. End of winning streak. Beginning of conversation that believes Boise State is a fraud.

So what, you might say. Fans should get over it. What is this agony, people are sick, wars are going on. This is not agony.

Well, it shouldn't be, but Kyle Brotzman's life will never be the same again. The hell has just started. And it won't be external. His greatest challenge as an athlete will be to not let this event define him. I went to a site before I started writing and I see that Brotzman was a star athlete in high school. I wish I could talk to him and may yet send him a note. This does not define him. I know this, and you know this, but the challenge will be for him to know it. Otherwise this defeat will be a long agony.

A number of years ago, Sports Illustrated wrote an article about Scott Norwood, the kicker for the Buffalo Bills who will forever be known as the player who missed a 47 yard field goal at the end of a super bowl game. A successful kick would have made the Bills champions. In the article, the authors make this very correct point. What makes someone a hero is not a failure, we all fail, but the measure of success: is how we react when we fail and whether we are willing "to pick yourself up and try again."

I feel for Kyle Brotzman today. He will become the butt of jokes and people in Idaho, from where he hails, will never forget him. People will tell him obligatorily that it is "all right." Some will mean it. The challenge, however, will be for him to realize that what anyone says is irrelevant. We all mess up. The champions are those who can dust themselves off, and keep on moving.