Middle Tennessee State football had a chance to tie Saturday’s regular season finale as time expired. Unfortunately, college kickers struck again.
Zeke Rankin missed a 47-yard attempt and Sam Houston State hung on to win its third game of the year by three. The Blue Raiders fell to 4-8.
A disappointing finish for the visitors quickly turned ugly for both sides.
Rankin was devastated and took a moment to reflect on the miss while his teammate consoled him. In that moment, a Bearkats player — wearing No. 36 — skipped by and got in his face.
The taunting did not go over well.
Middle Tennessee’s 6-foot-2, 273-pound defensive end Zaylin Wood ran over and clobbered the SHSU player. He went flying and landed hard on the turf below.
That set off a chain reaction. A different Bearkat player got into it with Wood before his teammates ran over to set things straight and plowed him to the ground.
It got violent in a hurry as both teams met at the 40-yard-line.
Pushing and shoving escalated to punching and kicking. Multiple players were thrown down.
Coaches from both teams and officials eventually separated the two sides. They went back into the locker room without any further issue.
Had this not been the last game of the season, suspensions would be imminent. However, because neither team will play in a bowl game, it will likely be brushed under the rug.
A disheartening finish for the Blue Raiders and Rankin was tarnished even further. Even though they were not the ones who initiated the brawl, it only adds salt to the wound.
Losing the game and having to fight the team that won is never fun.
College football kickers are going to college kicker. Taunting them, as a three-win team, is classless.
Whomever it was that ran over to mock Rankin and ultimately started the fight should be ashamed.