A massive fight ensued in the aftermath of the Armed Forces Bowl, which worsened Mississippi State’s 28-26 victory over Tulsa in Fort Worth, Texas.
It is unclear what caused the fight, which included kicks and punches and involved several members of both teams. What started with a push near midfield during the sinking of hands after the game spilled over and over to the sideline.
“She’s dumb. The root is dumb, no matter what the root is. The root is dumb and then it’s dumb,” said Mississippi state coach Mike Leach. “I would have it firmly in the dumb category. Now, where the dumb started, I’m not entirely sure.”
Tulsa coach Phillip Montgomery also provided no reason why the fight began.
“The only thing I’m going to say is our program, our guys, we’re a team that we’re going to defend each other and go into battle,” Montgomery said. “We talked about faith, family, football and the family will take care of the family. We are a team that has fought all year. We have fought again today and from that point of view, our boys will continue to protect each other and get out of there. “
Leach said a group of Tulsa players circled the pre-Mississippi state warm-ups and were “talking,” but would not speculate further on what could have caused the escalation of things.
“I haven’t seen enough film or anything like that to let us disconnect from this thing for any stretch,” Leach said.
After the pre-game incident, the game was quirky. The teams added 18 penalties.
Tulsa safety Kendarin Ray was assisted as he assisted on the field when things calmed down.
“I think he probably has some version of a concussion and we’ll leave him,” Montgomery said.