Oh well, well! The championship game fever has started to kick off! And guess what? It’s only Friday. Time for the much-awaited matchup between Spencer Danielson’s Boise State Broncos and Barry Odom’s UNLV. Already, the Broncos have a real advantage with RB Ashton Jeanty. He’s a weapon, and that could give them the edge over the underdog Rebels. But how could the game just go without a fresh serving of drama? Looks like this time it’s the color game that turned against Danielson’s program. That’s when college football fans got upset with the Broncos. Some even called for closing the doors for Boise State to the playoffs.

Things already seem to be in the Broncos’ favor. After all, their HC Danielson became the Mountain West Coach of the Year in his first year as skipper. The last coach to bag the honor in his debut year was Chris Petersen. After all, Danielson had to get the award after leading Boise State to an incredible 11-1 record. This prize was enough to lift his spirits before the Mountain West Conference Championship after they had crushed UNLV 44-20 in Las Vegas last year.

But looks like life throws you a serving of both good and bad. Just when Danielson thought he could soak up some happy spirits, he was back in the hot seat. No, not because of any player but their famous “The Smurf Turf” at Albertson Stadium. This unique blue field, the first non-green football field in the nation, truly defines the Boise State program. However, on December 6th, one of the trending tweets read, “Boise State should be banned from the playoff until they get rid of the blue turf.”

Well, we know how the act of camouflaging could lead to missed penalties and unfair advantages. Plus, already having speedsters like Jeanty, Danielson’s program by donning their blue-colored jersey on the blue turf has made it harder for the UNLV Rebels to locate their opponents during high-speed play. As outlined by the NCAA Football Rules in Rule 1, Section 4, there should be a contrast in the color game. Yes, so no matter how smart Danielson wanted to play with the color scheme, Boise State couldn’t escape the fans’ wrath, who are now raising a call for their ban from the playoffs. 

Fans slam Spencer Danielson’s blue-on-blue strategy

Do you know that this is not the first time that Danielson’s program got into this controversy? Back in 2011, the Mountain West Conference had to meddle in the matter. That time they restricted the Broncos from donning the blue-colored uniforms for their home games. But now that this time they stepped onto the field without ditching their favorite jerseys, a fan questioned, “I don’t see how they allow Boise State to wear all blue uniforms (helmet, jersey and pants) on their blue turf field?”

Another fan could not help but comment how it’s an ugly sight for Danielson’s boys to play without adhering to the norms: “Boise state with this ugly a- – blue field wearing their blue jerseys….terrible.”  Yes, we know that their Smurf Turf has been lucky for them, as ever since its installation, the Broncos have a home record of 182-39. But it looks like fans are not quite bothered about the stats, as one of them commented, “I hate Boise State’s blue turf sh- – is not fly.” “Those Boise State all blue unis should be outlawed by CFB on the Smurf Turf,” commented another fan, asking the officials to take firm action against them.

While hate comments started to pour in, another fan saw it as a good strategy for the Clemson Tigers. As Dabo Swinney’s program is gearing up for their face-off against SMU Mustangs this weekend, they need to oomph up their orange color scheme, as the Tigers fan wrote, “@Browns  I am watching Boise State play on their blue field with their blue jerseys. I think the fact that their jerseys blend in with the field is a competitive advantage.  So, if you build a dome then we need orange turf.” Let’s hope Spencer Danielson and his squad don’t get benched for bending the color rules too cleverly!