Today is the 25th anniversary of the first-ever Boise State game played on “The Blue.”  The first game, played September 13, 1986, had the  Broncos hosting the Humboldt State Lumberjacks.  It was a warm Saturday evening in Boise, as I recall, and my brother had received a pair of comps from his employer Idaho First National Bank (pre-WestOne Bank; pre-US Bank).  After years of watching football at Boise State — played on grass and, later, that fancy new green  ‘astroturf’ — we  had to check out this blue field.

I brought along my camera that night, and snapped a few photos from our lower-level seats on the West side, around the north end 20 yard line.  I believe the two photos shared here are of the first touchdown ever scored on the original Blue Turf.  Not sure who scored the touchdown or what else happened on the field that night (who was the QB?), but the final was 74-0.

The  1986 Boise State roster included  many names familiar to the modern day BK football family: McCarthy, Kwiatkowski, Derig, Ogata, Helgeson, and Heffner to name a few. Some are uncles, some parent and coach, some are BK grads who played at BSU and are now BK parents.  Another interesting thing about that game: the Humboldt head coach had a son starting at LB for Boise State, and…. you guessed it, that LB is the father of (and that Humboldt coach is the grandfather of) a current BK Knight. Finally, we all know the Godfather of the Blue Turf  is a “BK Dad.”

BKfootball.com  salutes them all for the uniquely successful 25 years on the Blue.

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