The security at Spanos Stadium will be elevated for the upcoming Blue-Green men’s soccer match between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, according to university spokesperson Keegan Koberl.
Koberl said that additional security will be deployed at the stadium for Saturday afternoon’s match in particular.
Security will enforce a clear bag policy, a rule that has been in place at Spanos Stadium for over five years.
“Spanos Stadium has a clear bag policy that applies for all games, and we do not allow anything to be thrown onto the field,” Koberl said.
In addition, spectators will closely be monitored for tortillas or any other potentially dangerous objects entering the stadium. Any individual caught throwing tortillas, or any object, onto the field will be removed from the stadium and, if they are a student, referred to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Punishments are to be determined.
The tortilla-throwing tradition at the Blue-Green rivalry game is an event that has haunted Cal Poly for the last 12 years.
The tradition originated in Santa Barbara when, in the early 1990s, UCSB students brought packs of tortillas into their home venues and launched them into the games from their seats. Cal Poly students adopted the practice in the mid-2010s, according to former Athletic Director Don Oberhelman in a Mustang News article published in 2022, and have kept with tradition since.
Cal Poly has taken several measures to combat the tortilla throwing over the last several years. The university, in tandem with the implementation of additional security for the game, requested for several grocery stores in San Luis Obispo – including Von’s, California Fresh Market, Grocery Outlet and Trader Joe’s – to temporarily remove tortillas from the shelves of their stores in 2022.
The measures appear to have been effective. In the first round of the 2024 Blue-Green matchup, which was played at Spanos Stadium, there was a noticeable lack of tortillas tossed onto the playing field.
This is a direct contrast to the 2023 game at Spanos Stadium, in which the game was threatened to be called off as a consequence of students throwing too many tortillas onto the field.
The Blue-Green game is set to take place on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Spanos Stadium. The match will kick off at 4 p.m., and Cal Poly will look to extend their unbeaten streak against UCSB to four straight games.