Ole Miss fans pay off fines, damages

Ole Miss fans were so thrilled to beat Alabama on Saturday that they're paying for the damage they did and the fine imposed by the SEC.

Through a crowdfunding platform, Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork asked fans Tuesday afternoon to help pay for the two goalposts torn down (each cost $11,000), the fine from the conference (a maximum $50,000 for rushing the field; it was the third time fans have done so in as many years) and $3,000 in stadium repairs.

In less than three hours, the $75,000 was raised.

"We were going to pay all of this no matter what, and it was worth it," Bjork told ESPN.com. "This wasn't all about the money, it was about the connection and the cause and tapping into the emotion from the big win."

Bjork also credited the platform called Ignite, which works like the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. Fans agreed to donate money in exchange for a perk. The perks started with a thank you letter from Bjork, which came with a $5 donation, and they went all the way up to $500 for a 3-inch piece of goalpost and $1,000 for a 6-inch cut.

Ole Miss sold all 70 of the 3-inch pieces and all 10 of the 6-inch pieces immediately.

"Maybe we priced that too low," Bjork said jokingly.

Once Ole Miss fans reached the $75,000 goal, they didn't stop. As of 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning, 760 donors -- whose names are on the website written on a virtual wall -- had given a total of $92,433.

One of the goalposts was taken by a group of students, but the one the school is cutting up was found in the Grove area by the stadium.

Bjork said he isn't going after the students who took the goalpost, as long as they don't try to sell pieces of it.

On Wednesday, Ole Miss will use the crowdfunding platform again to raise money for a scholarship that has been in the name of Chucky Mullins, an Ole Miss player who was paralyzed in 1989 and died in 1991. Powder blue helmets used last month in the team's game against Memphis will be among the perks the school will use to attract the donations.

Ole Miss is 5-0 and ranked third in the country, the program's highest ranking in the AP poll since it was No. 1 in the preseason in 1964. The Rebels visit Texas A&M on Saturday night.