Fan celebrates accordingly despite missing throw in 1st-ever Holiday Bowl casket toss

The first-ever casket toss at the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl in San Diego didn’t exactly go as planned for the fan selected for a chance to win $1,000 on Friday.

As part of its new sponsor, Trust & Will, one fan in attendance at Snapdragon Stadium was picked to throw a football into a casket with a four-figure inheritance prize on the line. A fan not in attendance was also eligible to win the prize.

Unfortunately, the fan’s throw bounced off the side of casket.

The first ever @trustandwill casket toss was a doink pic.twitter.com/tQL4tIOW5o

— Trust & Will Holiday Bowl (@holidaybowl) January 3, 2026

Despite the unsuccessful throw, it was a good ending for the fan as he still earned the money and celebrated accordingly: he climbed into the casket.

But, upon further review, he still got the 💰 – and celebrated appropriately https://t.co/b4nviO0sby pic.twitter.com/SP4PAXQd6Q

— Trust & Will Holiday Bowl (@holidaybowl) January 3, 2026

The casket toss at the bowl game, which featured Arizona and SMU, is the latest attempt to throw in some fun ideas to raise the excitement for nonplayoff contests.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl in December featured human-sized Pop Tart mascots and the annual tradition where the game MVP picks which flavor becomes an edible trophy.

Other games, such as the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, see the winning coaches get food poured on them, like mayonnaise and Frosted Flakes.

Trust & Will’s X account got in on the fun posting several memes reacting to the missed throw.

https://t.co/cQre3562KJ pic.twitter.com/L6Udf7BOal

— Trust & Will (@trustandwill) January 3, 2026

On second thought, inheritance should never be left to chance!

— Trust & Will (@trustandwill) January 3, 2026

This is Bob. Bob fumbled a $10K inheritance. Don’t be like Bob. https://t.co/U0YlgSQsFB

— Trust & Will (@trustandwill) January 3, 2026

For the game itself, SMU beat No. 17 Arizona 24-19 despite the Wildcats outscoring the Mustangs 19-0 in the second half. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 73 yards on the ground in the loss.

SMU running back T.J Harden rushed for 40 yards and two touchdowns.

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