"VICTORY, Let's rush the field!!!!!" "uh.....again?"

In the wake of BYU's come from behind victory over UTAH STATE (let's not forget that-we'll come back to it), it seems that it's time to revisit an often discussed topic: fans rushing the field of court, in post-victory jubilant celebration.

This seems to be becoming more and more of a fad among college sports. During the basketball season, a much-hyped BYU basketball team was mobbed after a victory in Provo over San Diego State, with the Jimmer being at the center of the crazed throng. For that one, I'll offer a pass. San Diego State and BYU were both in the top 10, and we're not going to see something like that on the BYU campus for another 20 years until the next Danny Ainge/Jimmer Fredette urban legend comes along.

Last season, Utah fans rushed the field after a dramatic, come-from-behind-blocked-last-minute-field-goal win over BYU. It was a crazy moment. Utah came through in the biggest moment of the game. Hats off for that. The part that we don't always remember is that just a few short weeks before that game, Utah entered a matchup with TCU touting the #5 ranking in the BCS standings. BYU limped through the early part of the season searching for an identity before finally putting together a winning streak and becoming bowl eligible against some of the weakest competition in the country. I understand that it was a dramatic win over an in-state blood rival, but there's no reason that Utah should not have run away with that game. Beating last year's BYU team did not warrant rushing the field.

The Cougars have had an interesting start to this season as well. After coming up big against SEC competition at Ole Miss and hanging close with the Longhorns in Texas, a smackdown (to put it nicely) against Utah left the team and its fans in a tailspin. Expectations were obviously lowered, and all of a sudden a game against UCF was looking scary.

Even with Utah State looking like possibly the team with the most talent in the state, they dropped several games that they should won. Auburn was a heartbreaker that the whole country saw and took note. A blowout against Weber State seemingly righted the ship, until Colorado State came in and pulled an Auburn on USU's home turf. Fatal flaws were starting to show.

Coach Bronco was preaching National Championship before the season. That's the goal. I'm ok with that (though I'd prefer a more realistic goal to start with). But if your goals are BCS bowls or the National Championship, then rushing the field after a victory against a 1-3 Utah State team at home should be shameful for BYU's fan base.

Let's set some ground rules. Rick Reilly (one of my favorite writer's when he was with Sports Illustrated, but not since he's been with ESPN), has outlined some of his rules for storming the court after basketball games. It's a great starting point for some of these "unwritten rules" for college football fans.

• Under NO circumstances should fans rush the field after beating a team that is under .500

• Fans should not rush the field after beating a team that they have beaten in the last three years. (slightly adjusted from Reilly's list, but helps keep rivalry perspective during big wins).

• Fans should not rush the field if they are ranked within ten spots of their opponent (another point modified from Reilly's list).
• Exception: If it's the first appearance that you've made in the top 25 in a decade or more. Let's say you are ranked 13 in the country, but haven't been ranked since 1999. You just knocked off the nation's #3 team, to show that you deserve your ranking. Go ahead. You get a pass.

• Every University gets only one field/court rush every 5 years. This year, BYU students decided to use it to add to the legend of the Jimmer. That's fine. It's probably the best way that you could have used it this year. In fact, I'm sure it is. A season like that doesn't even come along every decade. Now we've gotta hold off until we hit the 2016 season. More than that is overkill.

• I threw the issue out on Twitter and Google+, and here's what I got back:
• From @EricJ11: 

• From Kyle Kirkham on Google+ (@kyle11kirkham):

•  From @MacDiego:

• Hilarious conversation that I had with Nicole, my Ute Stepsister :)

• Last but not least, from @Ridge79:

• For the record, my wife disagrees with me completely, mostly because she enjoys to get me riled up about sports whenever she can. :) She thought it was a great win, and rushing the field was the logical reaction to such a great game.

I don't want to take away from what the Cougars did this weekend. I thought we were toast. A long-haired junior with too many religious comparisons to name (my favorite is Samson) came into the game and did the near-impossible. Taking the reigns from the Chosen One and showing him how it's done on a 96 yard drive in 2:26, are you kidding me? It was the most exciting game I have watched this year. Riley Nelson has earned the glory that has come from the victory.

The post game scene soured the victory a bit for me. If I had been there in person, I would have been jumping, screaming, chest bumping, back-flipping, head-butting, high-fiving, fist-bumping, and heel-clicking. I was ecstatic at home on my couch, even though I was trying to not wake up the baby. It was a great finish. The fans saw something special. Then they ruined it.

Have rules to add? Don't agree? I know there are many who don't. Let me know on Twitter or on Google+ or on any other weird social network that you can track me down. I'd love to hear it!