GLENDALE, Ariz. — Oklahoma came to the Fiesta Bowl wanting to cap a successful season and go out on a high note. Boise State arrived in University of Phoenix Stadium wanting to prove an undefeated team from the Western Athletic Conference deserved to be mentioned with college football’s elite.

Only Boise State got what it sought Monday night.

The seventh-ranked Sooners rallied from an 18-point deficit and were seconds away from claiming their first BCS bowl victory since the 2003 Rose Bowl, but instead suffered a 43-42 overtime loss.

The Broncos’ Ian Johnson darted into the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt to cap one of the wildest games in bowl history.

“It just wasn’t meant to be,” OU coach Bob Stoops said after the Sooners finished the season 11-3.

He looked like he’d just been through a wringer. He should have. The last 2 minutes and the overtime alone provided enough thrills to for an entire season. The two teams combined for 37 points during that span.

Most of the attention was focused on the return of Adrian Peterson to the Sooner backfield. The junior running back missed the last seven games with a broken collarbone and many believe the Fiesta Bowl will be his last game before declaring himself eligible for the 2007 NFL draft.

He found the end zone twice, including a 25-yard jaunt on OU’s first play of overtime. But he finished with a disappointing 77 yards on 20 carries.

“My head is just spinning right now,” he said.

It was dizzying night.

Instead it was Johnson who was the star of the game. The Boise State running back was the second-leading rusher in Division I during the regular season and battled his way to 101 yards on 16 carries.

The Sooners entered the game with an eight-game winning streak, but didn’t bare much of a resemblance to that team until the second half.

Paul Thompson threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns. But he also tied a BCS bowl record with three interceptions. When he threw his third, and Boise State’s Marty Tadman returned 34 yards for a touchdown, it looked like he was overseeing a disaster.

“I think I might have been trying to do too much, (it) being a big game, instead of playing within myself,” Thompson said. “Guys stayed focused toward the end of the game. It started off rough. I wasn’t really nervous, I was just trying to do too much.”

At that point, the Sooners were down 28-10 and it appeared they were heading for a route resembling the 55-19 loss to USC in the 2005 Orange Bowl.