Oh, snap! Have you ever thought that college football would also gift fans with some WWE scenes? Until now, we have seen enough verbal fights and foul plays. But looks like college football thought that’s not enough to keep the fans on edge. Time for some blood bath! That’s how Blake Harrell’s East Carolina vs Dave Doeren’s North Carolina face-off in the Military Bowl ended. A simple brawl got escalated. Sadly, the players involved in the scuffle escaped unscathed. But poor referee! Umpire Rod Tucker had to face the blows and the unpleasant consequences. Now this will lead to some serious NCAA action taken against the player who has been held accountable.  

Maybe a lot of passion is still left with the programs that couldn’t make it to the College Football Playoff. Sadly, the Bowl games are the only option for them to vent out. The biggest example is the ending of the Go Bowling Military Bowl that turned the gridiron into a makeshift wrestling ground. East Carolina sealed their 26-21 victory. All thanks to the game-clinching interception that came in the very last minute. Already, things were heated with players pushing and shoving one another. But things took an ugly turn leaving the college football fans in shock when an ECU player snatched a towel, yes you read that right, a towel, from a North Carolina player.

Yes, so petty was the issue. And the consequences? Not petty. It led to bloodshed. The scuffle left one of the officials with blood streaming down his face. That’s because the referees tried to meddle in the matter. But hardly did they realize that they would have to bear the blows. As the video went viral, an East Carolina player was spotted pushing a North Carolina player in the back. That’s when an NC State player’s helmet made contact with umpire Tucker. And the consequences?

As the clips went viral, Tucker suffered a major gash under his eye that kept bleeding. Now who was the player who took the towel? It was none other than East Carolina’s Yannick Smith (No. 15). The other player who retaliated was NC State’s Tamarcus Cooley. Now what action did NCAA take? 

NC State’s back-to-back troubles in college football

After the fight, referee Jonathan Noli read off all eight ejections from a small index card. Out of the eight players, five were from the Wolfpack, and the rest three from the Pirates. In the meanwhile, the NC state HC Doeren had already issued an apology. “I would like to apologize for our football team for how that ended. I’m embarrassed as a coach and I know our players are, too. That is not how people in this program, players in this program, staff in this program want anything to do with something like that.”

However, the NCAA will never tolerate any misconduct in college football. Even if that means that college football fans will have to sacrifice their favorite players. The NCAA rulebook states,“no player shall target and make forcible contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless player or contact an opponent with the crown [top] of their helmet.”  

Sadly, this has now become a common trend at NC State. This is the second game that the college football program got into a scuffle. The last time the Wolfpack planted a flag on Tar Heel’s field was after their win over UNC. Both the programs were condemned and had to shell out heavy fines to ACC.