Boise State took on Penn State in more than one matchup over the holiday break, as the Broncos battled Penn State on the virtual gridiron in Glendale. Matthew Wallace (A.K.A Sprub) traveled to Glendale to take on the Nittany Lions in EA Sports College Football 25. The game was hours before Penn State and Boise State squared off in the 2025 National Quarterfinal of the College Football Playoffs. Wallace is a freshman at Boise State and doubles as the women’s basketball manager. Sprub was recently crowned Mountain West Champion in CFB25. He took down San Jose State outside of Albertsons Stadium on the day of the 2024 Mountain West Championship game. Sprub won a talent search tournament at the beginning of last semester to earn his place on the varsity esports squad.
Sprub’s trip to Glendale saw him match up against Madden 2020 National Champion, Kenny “Civil” Cox. As Penn State did not have an official representative, Civil donned the white and blue and represented the squad from University Park, PA. Rally Cry and Club71 put on the event at the official Fan Fest. Sprub fell to Civil, 2-0 after a hard fought performance that saw both sides turn the ball over multiple times.
A Continued Bond
The event highlighted the continued intertwining of athletics and esports on a national stage. Rally Cry set up their station at the official fan fest. Stations for the community to try their hand at CFB25 as were set up as well. The Boise State Alumni Association set up an inflatable Buster Bronco and used the event as a pregame meetup. The Blue Thunder Marching Band was not far away from the event as well.
After the contest, Sprub took in the Fiesta Bowl with 30,000 other Bronco faithful. Both Wallace and the Broncos football team represented the University with grace. The two teams helped to maintain that Boise State continues to be one of the most prominent football and esports institutions in the country.