An unprecedented surge of Cal fans breached the gates of Memorial Glade hours before the official opening of ESPN's 'College GameDay,' leading to a chaotic and disorganized scene captured on video. Estimates indicate thousands of fans infiltrated the area around midnight, overwhelming security personnel.
Berkeley, California - The highly anticipated debut of ESPN's 'College GameDay' at the University of California, Berkeley, was marred by a chaotic breach of the campus's Memorial Glade gates by overzealous Cal fans hours before the official opening.
Cal Fans Stampede ESPN's 'College GameDay' Gates, Causing Chaos
Videos shared on social media depict the pandemonium that ensued early Saturday morning, as throngs of fans surged past the entrances around midnight. Desmond Howard, Rece Davis, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, Lee Corso, and Kirk Herbstreit had yet to arrive for the live broadcast when the gates were breached.
"The Cal crowd waiting in line for College GameDay has broken through the gates before the official opening," Avinash Kunnath of "Write For California" wrote on X. "Complete chaos in Berkeley. There is not enough security to organize the crowd."
Cal Fans Stampede ESPN's 'College GameDay' Gates, Causing Chaos
A second video posted by Kunnath captured a "second wave" of fans overcoming the fences, estimating the crowd size to be "in the thousands." The outpouring of enthusiasm surpassed the capacity of security personnel to maintain order.
The Cal Golden Bears, fresh from a disappointing loss to Arizona, are scheduled to host eighth-ranked Miami Hurricanes in a rare visit to Berkeley. Their only previous encounter in 1990 resulted in a decisive Miami victory.
Cal Fans Stampede ESPN's 'College GameDay' Gates, Causing Chaos
Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza expressed his excitement for the opportunity. "Opportunities like this don’t come often, especially with all the bells and whistles of ‘GameDay’ coming and Miami being a top-10 team in the nation," he said.
A victory for Cal would mark their first ACC win in their inaugural home game in the new conference and their first triumph against a ranked opponent since defeating No. 21 Oregon in 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to the reporting for this article.
* Cal's last victory against a ranked opponent was a 24-21 upset of No. 21 Oregon in 2020.
* Miami's previous visit to Berkeley in 1990 ended in a 52-24 triumph.
* Miami has a 2-1 record in road games against San Diego State.
* 'College GameDay' is ESPN's flagship pregame show for college football, featuring a panel of experts and live coverage from a different college campus each week.
