The first conference championship of the 2025 college football season delivered all the hype fans hoped for. Kennesaw State Owls and Jacksonville State Gamecocks went blow-for-blow for the Conference USA crown. But the real shocker came after the clock hit zero. A flag-planting scuffle broke out, and things got so heated that Alabama police had to step in.

“Jacksonville State police didn’t take too kindly to Kennesaw State players planting the flag after the Conference USA Championship Game,” wrote Radio host Barrett Sallee on December 5, attaching a video of the gridiron chaos. 

This matchup was a rematch of last month’s 35-26 Jacksonville State win, but the spotlight was on Kennesaw State’s rapid rise. In just their second FBS season, the Owls went from 2-10 in 2024 to a stunning 9-3 and 7-1 in Conference USA play under first-year coach Jerry Mack.

The Gamecocks matched that 7-1 league mark and earned hosting rights, looking to stack another Conference USA crown on top of last year’s 52-12 rout of Western Kentucky. But how did things escalate this time?

The Owls edged Jacksonville State 19-15 for the Conference USA crown, then made a beeline to midfield, intending to stake their flag in the heart of the Gamecocks’ turf. Clearly, Jacksonville State players weren’t the only ones fired up. In Sallee’s video, a police officer steps in, tries to snatch the flag, and gets into a brief shouting match with Kennesaw State players after they pull it out of his hands.

Flag-planting is an act that has been criticized across college football conferences.

“There shouldn’t be flag-planting. Go win the game and go to the locker room,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in an interview in 2024. “If you want to plant a flag, you play ‘capture the flag’ or you join the military or you fly to the moon.”

The push against flag-planting gained momentum after multiple games devolved into fights over the ritual. For instance, the Michigan Wolverines-Ohio State Buckeyes dust-up led to both schools being fined $100,000. This prompted Republican state Rep. Josh Williams to propose a bill making flag-planting in sports a felony. 

It remains to be seen whether Kennesaw State players will be fined for the incident. This season, college football head coaches have become very cautious about flag-planting. In this year’s Ohio State-Michigan showdown, two Buckeye players hoisted an “Ohio State Against the World” flag and looked ready to plant it.

That’s when Day and assistants, including Matt Patricia, rushed in yelling “no, no, no” and pulled them off the field. Despite the hoopla, Kennesaw State gifted its fans a memory they will cherish for a long time.

Kennesaw State Owls’ first-ever Conference USA Crown

Notably, Kennesaw State Owls secured its first-ever Conference USA title, a small measure of payback after falling 35-26 to Jacksonville State in their November 15 meeting. The Owls pulled off a full-season flip, going 10-3 after winning just two games last year. 

They’ve punched their ticket to a bowl game for the first time. Not bad for a program only in its second year at the FBS level. 

Jacksonville State clawed back from a 12-0 hole to take a late 15-12 lead. But Kennesaw State snatched the Conference USA title with a touchdown in the final 52 seconds. The Gamecocks had the Owls on the ropes with a fourth-and-14 stop looming at one minute, seven seconds. 

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But Conference USA title-game MVP Amari Odom scrambled for 14 yards, plus a costly late hit tacked on at the end. One snap after the clutch conversion, Odom hit Navelle Dean for a 7-yard strike to seal it. He wrapped the night going 26-of-32 for 246 yards and a score. The Gamecocks’ last gasp lasted just four plays before turning it over on downs.

Jacksonville State has the motivation to recover from the loss. They walked away from signing day with 25 new additions, plus defensive end Kyten Davis, who joined on December 5. Kennesaw State, meanwhile, went from 2-10 a year ago to Conference USA champs.

Now the question is whether that celebration comes with a pricey penalty after the flag-planting chaos.