A massive brawl erupted in the moments following Thursday’s Armed Forces Bowl, marring Mississippi State’s 28-26 victory against Tulsa in Fort Worth, Texas.
It is unclear what triggered the fight, which included kicks and punches, involving different members of both teams. What started with some pushing near midfield during the post-game handshake, ran to and along the sidelines.
“It’s stupid. Its root is stupid regardless of its root. Its root is stupid and its continuation is stupid,” said Mississippi state bus Mike Leach. “I would have that firmly in the stupid category. I’m not quite sure where the stupid started.”
Tulsa coach Phillip Montgomery also gave no reason for what started the fight.
“All I will say is our program, our boys, we are a team that stands up for each other and we are going to compete,” said Montgomery. “We talked about faith, family, football and family is going to take care of the family. We are a team that has fought all year round. We fought again today and from that point of view our boys will continue to protect each other.
Leach said a group of Tulsa players circled the Mississippi State’s warming pregame and was “talking,” but would not speculate further on the cause of the escalation.
“I haven’t seen enough film or anything like that to let us go completely from this thing,” Leach said.
After the pre-game incident, the game was chippy. The teams came together for 18 penalties.
Tulsa’s security, Kendarin Ray, was taken off the field while things calmed down.
“I think he probably has some version of a concussion and we’ll leave it at that,” Montgomery said.