The Boise State University Broncos punched their ticket to the college football playoffs for the first time in program history on Dec. 6. Not only will the Broncos be competing in a New Year’s Six (NY6) bowl game, but they are the second Group of Five (G5) school to make the playoffs.
After securing the Mountain West Conference Championship over No. 20 ranked University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), the Broncos earned their spot in this year’s College Football Playoffs.
Rightfully so, the Broncos fans celebrated the opportunity to watch their team compete for the National Championship.
College football fans commemorate their teams’ wins a little bit differently, and the Boise State Mountain West Championship was a perfect example of the new way that fans will commemorate their teams. After the win, the fans left their seats and ran onto the field to celebrate with their favorite student athletes on the blue.
Bronco fans filled the Mountain West Championship ceremony for Boise State with cheering and partying on the Blue, in honor of the biggest win in Boise State football history.
While the Championship’s offensive Most Valuable Player (MVP), Ashton Jeanty, began speaking, the crowd of fans began their own chants, yelling loud enough for the television broadcast to hear, “Heisman! Heisman!” over and over again.
Broncos fans didn’t stop there.
A horde of fans piled in front of the north end zone goal post and began climbing and taking selfies. After roughly 20 minutes of pulling, with the help of a rope that a fan snuck into the stadium, the fans broke the goal post into pieces and marched its remains towards the Boise River, where they tossed the goalpost into the near freezing water.
The way the Broncos fans celebrated their win and playoff berth wasn’t out of the ordinary in the college football world. Fans around the country do the same when their teams win a big game.
On Oct. 5, Vanderbilt University took down the #6 University of Alabama and Vanderbilt fans rushed the field, tore down a goalpost and dumped it in the Cumberland River.
On Nov. 9, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) defeated the #2 University of Georgia. Mississippi fans rushed the field, tore down the goalposts and marched into the city with the goal posts in hand since there are no bodies of water near the campus.
What has become a tradition in college football is actually illegal to do in most conferences. Fines are issued out to the university for the offense by the conference. For the SouthEastern Conference (SEC) teams are fined up to $100,000. The Mountain West Conference did not fine the Broncos for the fans’ destruction, but the university will have to pay for the damaged goalposts.
Despite all of the negatives that may come from this new college football tradition, it creates a winning culture for teams, like the Broncos. This momentum can be carried into the next chapter of their season, the playoffs.
“Honestly it was surreal,” Boise State defensive back Seyi Oladipo said post-game when asked about the fans. “Never seen anything like that on the Blue, so that’s a way to go out.”
The Mountain West Championship marked the final home game of the season and for seniors like Oladipo, their last game on the Blue in their career.
In another post-game interview with Boise State’s athletic director Jermeiah Dickey by KTVB, Dickey was asked, “Are you okay with (the fans) ripping the goal posts out?”
Dickey responded laughing, “I’m fine with it, we will go find more money and get it done.”
Going forward to next season, it is likely that we will see more fan celebrations like this one, as the tradition of rushing the field, ripping the goalposts and tossing the posts into the nearest river is becoming a college football tradition.
