During the altercation, an ECU player shoved an NC State player from behind, and the NC State player's helmet hit the ref in the face.

In the final minute of East Carolina’s 26-21 win over North Carolina State, the two teams got into a fight that sparked eight ejections, as The Athletic ‘s Chris Vannini noted. During the brouhaha, one of the officials took a helmet to the face and walked away with a bloody injury under one of his eyes.

NC State entered the Military Bowl looking to snap its four straight bowl loss streak against in-state foe East Carolina. But instead of completing another fourth-quarter comeback, the Wolfpack lost 26-21 after the Pirates won on an 86-yard rushing touchdown with 1:33 to play.