PROVO, Utah — While it appears that BYU will avoid punishment after Cougar fans stormed the field following last week's "Holy War" victory, a local CEO is still paying up after offering to cover any potential fines; this time benefiting students across northern Utah.
In the minutes after BYU's 26-17 win over Utah, Crumbl CEO Jason McGowan offered to pay off the $50,000 fine expected to be handed down by the Big 12 Conference for students storming the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
However, in its weekly announcement of team punishments on Tuesday, the conference skipped over BYU, sharing only that it had fined Arizona State for similar student actions.
With nothing to pay off, McGowan could have retreated to his cookie kingdom with a full wallet. Instead, he did the opposite in a move that helps the BYU players and local Utah students.
On Wednesday, McGowan arrived at the Salt Lake City School District office and paid off the entire school lunch debt bill for the district at a total of $60,685.
But he wasn't done.
In a social media post, McGowan shared that he had done the same for the Provo School District, which a spokesperson said was over $30,000.
As far as the original $50,000 offer for the non-existent BYU fine, McGowan said it will go directly to Cougar players through NIL deals.
The Big 12 Conference did not share why it chose to fine Arizona State after its fans stormed the field following the Sun Devils win over Texas Tech, and not BYU.
