Utah State student section invades ExtraMile Arena for historic rout of Boise State

‘The HURD’ goes mobile as Aggies blast Broncos, 93-68

Utah State. | Triston Hartfiel, Utah State Athletics

A student ticket promotion gone wrong resulted in an unusual atmosphere for Saturday’s Mountain West men’s basketball game between Boise State and Utah State at ExtraMile Arena. 

With Boise State students still on winter break, the school announced on Friday that anyone with a valid student ID — from elementary school to college — would receive free entry to Saturday’s showdown. Following a social media push by Utah State’s student section — known as The HURD — to scoop up many of the free seats, the Broncos amended the promotion to require an ID from a school in Idaho.

The policy change didn’t stop Utah State students from making the four-hour drive from Logan to Boise. According to social media reports, The HURD raised nearly $3,000 in 12 hours to provide tickets and gas money for more than 120 students. 

The Utah State student body outnumbered Boise State’s at ExtraMile Arena, taking over the upper deck as the Aggies blasted the Broncos, 93-68. It was the worst home loss in head coach Leon Rice’s 16 years as head coach. 

The lively group was often louder than the Boise State crowd during the blowout win. After the game, The HURD flocked to the lower level of the Broncos student section to greet the team. 

Hey @usuHURD - take a bow. Elite in every way. We felt you all night.

Bravo 👏💙🤘 #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/a0DJj4D825

— Ben Asher (@Ben__Asher) January 11, 2026

“I think it’s tremendous,” Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said of the traveling student section. “When we found out that they couldn’t get in with the (free) student tickets, the staff put some money together, donors put some money together, our athletic director, and helped fund it. But they came out in droves. It was pretty incredible, at the end of the game, all of the chants. I think it just shows the commitment that this student body has, not only for our program, but for athletics. It’s pretty incredible.”

Utah State (14-1, 5-0) kept its perfect MWC record intact while the Broncos (9-7, 1-4) suffered their third straight loss. 

Following Wednesday’s poor home showing against Grand Canyon, Rice criticized the lackluster environment at ExtraMile Arena. 

“I thank the fans that came, but that might’ve been the worst crowd we’ve had,” Rice said. “I’m so grateful for the fans that came because that was the emptiest this building has been. Now granted, the people that were here, I appreciate them so much. But that was a neutral court game almost for Grand Canyon.”

The Broncos are four games behind MWC co-leaders San Diego State (11-4, 5-0) and Utah State in the conference standings. 

The Aztecs had no trouble with Fresno State (7-9, 1-4) on Saturday, cruising to a 71-52 home victory. 

New Mexico (13-3, 4-1) was even more dominant in a 91-49 road shellacking of Air Force (3-13, 0-5). 

Nevada (12-4, 4-1) also kept pace with the MWC leaders by earning a hard-fought 92-83 home victory over Wyoming (11-5, 2-3). 

Grand Canyon (10-5, 3-1) easily dispatched San Jose State (5-11, 0-5), 76-58.