Associated Press


MORRIS, Minn. -- A 20-year-old University of Minnesota-Morris student was killed Saturday when football fans pulled down a goal post at the end of the Cougars' 34-28 overtime homecoming win over Crown College.


Richard Thomas Rose, of Benton City, Wash., was a junior at Minnesota-Morris and a member of the men's basketball team, the school said.


Rose was pronounced dead at a hospital after attempts to revive him on the field failed, Minnesota-Morris Chancellor Sam Schuman said.


Schuman said the stands were full with probably about 1,000 fans watching the last football game at "Cougar Field." The Cougars move to a new stadium next season.


Schuman said students were "understandably quite upset."


"He was a popular young man, and I think students are shocked and in a very deep state of grief," Schuman said. He said the school will offer counseling to students, staff and faculty.


No one else was hurt. An autopsy will be conducted.


Minnesota-Morris is a public liberal arts school of about 1,700 students in west-central Minnesota, about 135 miles northwest of Minneapolis.