The Fiesta Bowl has cut back on most of the planned activities for teams, preferring to let the schools decide how to spend their free time leading up to the game.
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The bowl provided two dinners at the team hotel, then the highlight event Thursday night for the Sooners: dinner at Drinkwater's City Hall Steakhouse, one of the top eating establishments in Scottsdale.
"Never had stuff like that before,” OU safety Reggie Smith said. "It was crazy. Top of the line. I was looking at wines, I don't know why I was looking at wines, but they were like $8,000. I said, ‘I don't think we belong here.'
"The plate we had was supposedly $200. I said, ‘Wow.'”
The meal came in courses — ravioli, massive onion rings, shrimp cocktail for starters — so many that linebacker Rufus Alexander couldn't finish his New York Strip.
"I had a little bit left and couldn't finish it,” Alexander said. "It just sat there. Because in the beginning, they brought out all this bread and appetizers and stuff. And I was eating it.
"I couldn't finish it. It isn't very often I can't finish a steak.”
•Celebrity sighting: A fun night out in Scottsdale will forever provide an interesting nugget of trivia for Boise State receiver Legedu Naanee. He was among group of players Thursday night who happened to see Mike Tyson.
"Glad we didn't do what he was doing,” Naanee said.
A few hours later, around 1:45 a.m. Friday morning, Tyson was stopped after his car almost struck a sheriff's vehicle while leaving a Scottsdale nightclub. The former heavyweight boxing champion was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of cocaine.
•Jedi Stoops: OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables directed credit to head coach Bob Stoops when asked how the team was able to remain positive amid adversity early in the season.
Venables spoke of Stoops' leadership and of some Stoops secrets.
"He almost Jedi mind-tricks you and gets you to drink the Kool-Aid,” Venables said. "It's easy to believe when you have confidence from him.”
•What bad weather? Locals in the Phoenix area have been lamenting the unseasonably cool weather.
Not Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky.
"Just really enjoying the weather,” he said. "When bad weather around here is 55 degrees and a little drizzle, that's not too bad.”
The forecast for Friday in Boise: partly cloudy with a high of 37.
•Arizona Dreamin': Most folks love Phoenix for its mild temperatures this time of year.
Sooners wide receiver Malcolm Kelly loves the area, too, but for a different reason.
"Where I'm from — East Texas — we have hills,” the Sooner receiver said, "but we don't have hills.”
He raised his hand a couple feet over his head.
"I love the scenery.”
•Broncos wanted Ah You: Boise State courted defensive end C.J. Ah You heavily when he was at Snow Junior College. He made only three recruiting trips — Boise State, Kansas and Oklahoma — and even though he chose the Sooners, the standout gave the Broncos a long look.
"I was really considering going there,” Ah You said. "Oklahoma just better suited me.”
•Bad cut: While the news that Boise State tight end Jared Hunter was sent home Wednesday made only a small ripple — he had only one catch this season — it hit Zabransky hard.
"That's my best friend on the team,” he said of Hunter. "Just a crappy situation.”
Zabransky was with Hunter on Tuesday night, when he apparently violated curfew.
"I went home when I was supposed to. He missed curfew,” Zabransky said. "He's real torn up.
"He knows that we're going to battle for him. We're going to go out there and fight.”
•Playoff plug: Because of the way the Sooners are playing, Alexander would like his team's chances if college football had a playoff system.
"I have all the faith in this team,” he said. "(A playoff) ain't going to happen in my day. I think it would be real good for college football, though.”
•Follow them where? Boise State makes some of its biggest plays when Zabransky scrambles, and the receivers have a chance to freelance. Because of that, Smith said the Sooner secondary is going to have to maintain their coverage no matter what.
"If they run up to the stands, we've got to be right there with them,” he said. "If they go to the bathroom, we've got to be right by their side.”
•Praise for the D: The Boise State offense knows that it will face the biggest challenge of the season going against OU's defense. The Broncos say they've seen nothing like the Sooners this year.
"Speed wise, I don't think we've seen a defense that flies around like they do,” Zabransky said, adding that he was equally impressed by the Sooners' defensive line. "We know how small the margin for error is.”
By John Helsley and Jenni Carlson
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