OXFORD — A fight for the football turned into a fight with potentially serious ramifications for No. 22 Mississippi State’s bowl game.
And the play that might cost MSU three defensive starters for the first half of its pending bowl game didn’t even count.
At the end of the third quarter of Thursday’s Egg Bowl, which MSU won 35-3, Starkville native and Ole Miss wide receiver A.J. Brown, a Starkville native, caught a pass and then wrestled to keep control of the ball with MSU’s Johnathan Abram as they fell into the end zone. Brown and Abram continued to tussle for the ball after the catch was ruled an Ole Miss touchdown, and that led to a nationally televised, sideline-clearing brawl involving both teams.
When all was settled, officials levied unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on all members of both teams, and four players — three from MSU players and one from Ole Miss — were ejected. But Abram and Brown, who swung at each other during the altercation, remained in the game.
Although Brown’s catch was ruled a touchdown, the score was erased after officials determined Ole Miss snapped the ball after the game clock for the third quarter had expired.
“We certainly coach our kids to do the right thing, play with poise, play with confidence, play with dignity and play with class,” MSU coach Joe Moorhead said after the game, “But, at the same time, we’re not going to take anyone’s s*** either.”
For Ole Miss, it did nothing more than cost defensive back C.J. Moore the final quarter of a blowout loss to end a 5-7 season. For the Bulldogs, it may cost them three players for the first half of their bowl game.
Starting cornerbacks Jamal Peters and Cameron Dantzler were ejected for flagrant personal fouls due to their participation in the fight. Section 6, Article 1 of the NCAA rule book reads, “When a player is disqualified from the game due to a flagrant personal foul (Rule 2-10-3), that team’s conference shall automatically initiate a video review for possible additional sanctions before the next scheduled game.”
Linebacker Willie Gay Jr., a sophomore from Starkville, also was ejected after the play, but his was not for a flagrant personal foul. Any player who leaves the sideline for an altercation is given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and two of them in one game gets a player ejected. Gay earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for celebrating after recovering a first-quarter fumble.
Abram and Brown could still face discipline from the conference. As Section 6, Article 1 states, it is likely the Southeastern Conference will review the incident and make final decisions about discipline at a later date.
Until then, MSU is left to wonder which players will be available for the first half of the bowl game. Bulldog coaches also will work to prevent this from happening again.
“I talked to (Ole Miss) Coach (Matt) Luke at midfield and said I didn’t want things to devolve into that. That’s not what I want it to be,” Moorhead said. “We want to play with class. We want to play with poise, and I was trying to get the guys off the field.
“I would like us to get the trophy, go celebrate with our fans and get off the field,” he added. “I can’t talk about any of the other stuff, but the extra-curricular stuff during the game and after the game is not going to be tolerated by me.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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