Badgers Cheerleaders Run From Snowballs Thrown By Their Fans Before Big Loss

Badgers cheerleaders had to run for the safety of the tunnel during Saturday’s college football game between Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Badgers were down at halftime with no points on their side of the board, and that caused some fans to take the lack of score out on the cheerleaders that came out onto the field at halftime to perform.

According to the Washington Post, the Badgers cheerleaders and their mascot had to run for safety when their own fans began to throw snowballs at them before the end of the second quarter. Video of the cheerleaders leaving the field landed on Twitter soon after it happened. The cheerleaders did return to the field after halftime, but the cheerleaders opted to stay on the Wisconsin sideline instead of in the end zone as is their usual practice.

Paul Chryst spoke about the snowball incident. According to the The Junior College Newspaper, he said, “We don’t know, but the only thing you can focus on is what you’re involved in and you can control.”

Wisconsin cheerleaders leaving the field after being pelted with snowballs by their own fans. pic.twitter.com/vyUJkj9TsB

— Jesse Temple (@jessetemple) November 21, 2015

The police in the area immediately went to their Twitter account to tell the fans to calm down. They informed the fans that any one throwing snowballs would be tossed from the game and arrested. The damage was already done by that point though. Several reporters were on scene and witnessed the snowball attack on the cheerleaders. Their reports flooded Twitter.

That’s where the cheerleaders were. All that snow came from the stands. pic.twitter.com/2vHpcOP4qe

— Bobby Pillote (@BobbyPillote) November 21, 2015

Wisconsin Badgers fans were upset by the game up to that point. During the game, three of the touchdowns made by the Badgers football players were called back in by the replay booth. If those touchdowns had stood, the team would have been in the lead by 28-13. Instead, the Badgers lost the game by a score of 13-7.

The loss marked the first win by the Northwestern Wildcats at the Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, since 2000. That win was a game won in overtime with a score of 47-44.

The loss came on Senior Day for the Wisconsin Badgers. For the seniors on the football team, it was the last time they would play on their home field.

Jason Haig from The Junior College Newspaper described the loss in his report.

“Senior day is generally supposed to be a celebration of a group’s accomplishments. Three times the sideline erupted along with the 75,276 fans at Camp Randall. I’ve been on the other side of those games. This is a bend-but-not-break D that might have allowed over 800 passing yards over the last three games, but it won all three allowing just one touchdown in each came and making up for it with a pick in each one. And then the Jazz play, it’s just disappointing. Coupled with the letdown from the roller coaster of emotions brought about by the triumvirate of called back scores, Wisconsin poignantly walked away knowing the current senior class would never play a home game again.”

Joel Stave was one of the seniors that played his final game at the Badgers stadium on Saturday. The quarterback did not have his best performance during the game with Northwestern. According to the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, he fumbled twice, threw two interceptions, and he was sacked a number of times by the Wildcats defense.

He thought he had made up for all of that by throwing a touchdown with less than two minutes in the game, however, that was one of the touchdowns called back by the replay booth. The officials called back the touchdown after review stating that Jazz Peavy did not complete the catch before he landed on the ground. The touchdown came at the end of a drive that 74-yard drive. Peavy took three steps before he stumbled out of the end zone.

With the three touchdowns called back during the game, Wisconsin fans were not happy, but that did not give some fans the right to throw snowballs at the cheerleaders. What do you think of the snowball incident? Did you watch the Wisconsin game on Saturday?

[Image by Tom Lynn/Getty Images]