It started as a basketball game and ended as a controlled burn. Kevin “Boopie” Miller’s half-court heave as time expired pushed SMU past Virginia Tech 77–76 on Wednesday night, a finish so dramatic it demanded more than a scoreboard reaction. Within milliseconds of the ball cutting through the net, flames shot into the air, igniting the arena and, almost instantly, social media.
There was someone who quite literally turned up the heat on the celebration. Or at least, that’s how the internet saw it. Joe Bessner, the operator of the “flame thingy,” appeared to predict the future, igniting the victory fire just after Miller’s shot fell — a moment that looked less like timing and more like prophecy.
With SMU down by two and 2.7 seconds left in the game, the Mustangs inbounded from the opposite side of the court. Miller caught the inbounds pass on the run, took one dribble, launched the ball from half court and sank it.
“I think a lot of people in the stands are thinking, ‘Wow, what if they have this happen? What if they pull this off and it goes in?’ And I was thinking the same thing,” Bessner told The Athletic. “I just happen to have a little bit more of an important job than other people sitting in the stands.”
The chaos that preceded the shot only added to the tension. SMU’s Jaron Pierre Jr. grabbed a rebound with 1.7 seconds remaining after a missed free throw. Both teams called timeouts. The arena held its breath. Finally, B.J. Edwards found a streaking Miller, who took two dribbles and launched from half court.
“All I had to do was just press one button. I can’t imagine all of the hours and hours of training that Boopie has put into his career. I was very confident, just like everybody else, that we would win this one,” he said.
“Me and my partner, we were at the ready on fire watch and hoping that it would go in.”
I cannot stop watching Boopie Miller’s halfcourt buzzer beater.
I am in AWE of the pyrotechnics.
There is fire in the air INSTANTANEOUSLY.
We see flames before the announcer even says “it goes!”
It’s MAGIC. pic.twitter.com/f4AoGpoaQA
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) January 15, 2026
The irony of the moment burned even hotter. The game-winner was Miller’s first made 3-pointer of the night after missing his first five attempts — a cold shooter who chose the most incandescent moment possible to find his range.
“There’s no delay. There’s no transfer time. It’s instant. … I would have loved to hit the flames right at the buzzer, but we didn’t win until the ball went in,” Bessner said.
Behind the scenes, the final seconds were treated like live explosives.
“Usually, when there’s 30 seconds left on the clock, we will put it into a safety mode or a warning mode, which means it’s live,” he said. “Prior to that 30 seconds, even if someone were accidentally to trip or hit a button, there’s not really any danger there because our system is not armed and we use that term armed as in it’s ready to go.”
Those final 30 seconds, however, stretched on.
“It was really almost like five to 10 minutes that that 30 seconds turned into. Each time there was a timeout, I would unarm the system, I would put it back in safety mode, because in that last 30 seconds of the game, there were more timeouts than I think anybody would have expected.”
Ladies and gentlemen, Joe, SMU’s Fire guy pic.twitter.com/hF0f8jiX5O
— SMU Basketball (@SMUBasketball) January 15, 2026
It wasn’t the first time he’d hit the button with perfect timing.
“At the 2016 NCAA Final Four — it was in San Antonio — it was a very similar moment. We shot confetti for that.”
Those moments are harder to manufacture now. Bessner explains that the NCAA has adopted a rule preventing confetti from being released until officials leave the court, requiring approval from fire marshals, venue staff and NCAA personnel. His company handles the NCAA Final Four and the ACC Championship, navigating spectacle and safety.
This isn’t the only big stage Bessner has worked. With 10 years in pyrotechnics, he’s been part of multiple Super Bowls and is already preparing for the next one at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
“In the Super Bowl, they never do the same thing twice,” he said. “They always try and imagine something new. And so it’ll be something that’s never been seen before, something that’s designed just for that one year. And then next year, it’ll be something new again.”
With Super Bowl LX set to feature Bad Bunny as the halftime headliner, Bessner and his team have every detail mapped out.
“When the team runs out, during the halftime show, if there’s a celebration at the end, the national anthem, sometimes they do all of those things. Sometimes they do one or two of those things,” he explained. ” … When it comes to special effects, that means lasers, smoke machines, fire pyro.”
The pyrotechnics world is small, but Bessner says there’s always room for those drawn to the sparks and adrenaline, whether it’s just for a one-time Fourth of July show or going out on tour with Bad Bunny.
“I was always the kid that spent hundreds of dollars at fireworks stands growing up,” he remembered.
For Bessner, the heat of the spotlight was never the point. Pyrotechnics amplify moments; they don’t create them. The shot did that on its own. Despite the viral moment and the perfectly timed flames that lit up social feeds, Bessner insists the spotlight belongs to Miller.
“He’s one of the most talented basketball players that there are in Texas,” he said. “And I look forward to seeing what he can bring to the NBA one day.”