Boise State fans never gave up in fight vs. goalpost. See uprights find watery graves
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Big night on The Blue
Boise State secured a historic 21-7 win over UNLV in the Mountain West championship game to lock up a berth in the College Football Playoff. Read all our coverage here.
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Boise State fans never gave up in fight vs. goalpost. See uprights find watery graves
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Boise State has Mountain West title, playoff berth. It is missing a goalpost, though
When a college football team secures a historic win, the goalposts are in trouble.
It’s a long-held tradition — loved by some, loathed by many — for students of the winning school to try to tear down a goalpost and find it a new home, often in the nearest body of water.
Earlier this season, long-suffering Vanderbilt fans tore down a goalpost and tossed it in Nashville’s Cumberland River after a 40-35 win over Alabama. Just a few weeks ago, students at Lehigh dumped a goalpost in the Lehigh River in Pennsylvania after defeating Lafayette 38-14.
Boise State fans have not really had a reason to challenge an Albertsons Stadium goalpost to a battle, mostly because a high level of success over the years means that wins are expected and it would take something super special to warrant an attack.
That came Friday night.
The Broncos defeated UNLV 21-7 in the Mountain West championship game to secure back-to-back conference titles — but more importantly, to capture the school’s first bid to the College Football Playoff.
After the trophy presentation on the field, students and others wasted no time clambering up the yellow goalposts and going to work. They put in the kind of effort that would have made head coach Spencer Danielson proud, rocking and bending the thing with all their might for a good 30 minutes or so.
The base of the goalpost remained in the ground, meaning fans couldn’t uproot the whole thing. But they eventually got the main post to bend in half, toppling the crossbar and uprights to the point that pieces could be ripped apart. That happened to both uprights, which were carried out of the stadium and toward the river that runs right by campus.
Heading out of the stadium’s northeast corner, near the Bleymaier Football Center, a large group of people made their way a little down campus toward the Bob Gibb Friendship Bridge that crosses the Boise River, while another group went straight to Broadway Avenue adjacent to the stadium parking lot.
A group of students walked the upright into the river by the Broadway bridge, despite the frigid temperatures. They were cheered by boisterous onlookers.
The other group made more of a splash, dropping an upright into the river from the pedestrian-only Friendship Bridge that connects the campus to Julia Davis Park.
Boise State will find out Sunday where it will be in the CFP bracket, but one thing’s for sure: There are no more home games this season. That’s a good thing, because quick work would have to be done to get a new goalpost in that end zone.
Here are some other angles and videos from social media of the goalposts’ plunge into the cold Boise River.
This story was originally published December 7, 2024 at 3:08 AM.
