By Pat Welter

I’ll say this about the NC State ECU brawl. At least they care. In a sport where everything has rapidly been reduced to the $ value of your NIL deals, NC State and ECU showed that tradition still matters. That the players on the field care just as much about the bragging rights as you and your co-worker who has a different set of school colors adorning his or her desk.

That was a heck of a football game. One of the craziest I’ve ever seen. The same underdog mentality that NC State is able to adopt when they play UNC, ECU taps into when they play the Wolfpack. NC State looked finished down 20-7, but as I sit at my computer I’m still not sure how they didn’t win the game. They took a 21-20 lead 9:49 remaining in the 4th quarter on what you could call a reverse flea flicker screen pass to Hollywood Smothers who took it 33 yards to the house. From there absolute mayhem ensued.

NC State intercepted ECU not once, but twice on following possessions. ECU had a scoop and score for the go ahead touchdown as State was trying to run out the clock that got called down by forward progress. Then there was Rahjai Harris’ 86 yard touchdown run to give the Pirates a 26-21 lead and CJ Bailey’s interception to seal it.  Of course this morning no one is talking about any of that.  They are talking about the brawl that followed.

Obviously you don’t want violence and you don’t want anyone to get hurt. I was in the middle of the brawl after NC State beat UNC to send Mack Brown into an early forced retirement. I’m filming the handshake between Brown and Dave Doeren and suddenly I see a mad dash to plant a flag.  I run over to start filming as bodies are flying around me in 360 degree directions. I’m surrounded by giants in armor and was like I’ve got to get out of here.  If I’m not careful I’m going to get accidentally hit. 

Referee Rod Tucker’s bloody face will be one of the defining images from this year’s Military Bowl game. There needs to be consequences so what happened Tucker next time isn’t worse. Eight players in total were ejected, even though it doesn’t appear the refs got all the numbers right.  That could affect next season’s opener.  Yeah, if you didn’t know NC State hosts ECU at Carter-Finley stadium on August 30th.  Players need to have a severe enough penalty that they’ll think twice before doing this kind of thing again.  But at the same time these aren’t insurance salesman in an office.  These are gladiators who poured their guts out for 60 minutes in a game that State and ECU fans will never forget.

Tamarcus Cooley getting his towel ripped from his pants appeared to light the fuse. ECU wide receiver Yannick Smith is waving it in the air.  Cooley is supposed to take that disrespect? Log a complaint with HR?  He was just trying to get his towel back, and the pride he and his teammates had lost with it.

Saturday night was a reminder of why they stopped playing this game in the first place. After ECU fans tore down the goal posts at Carter-Finley in 1987, Jim Valvano refused to schedule the game….until the 1991 season when the Peach Bowl forced their hand. Low and behold ECU pulled off a miracle again.  In 1996 they decided it was so emotional it needed to be played on a neutral site.  For rivalries this intense it’s not just the players you have to worry about fighting, it’s the fans as well.

We live in the age of the transfer portal, NIL and benching yourself to preserve eligibility. Bowl games might not matter, but rivalries do. As ugly as Saturday’s brawl was it was also kind of beautiful. The game meant nothing, yet it meant everything. The sport is different, but some things never change.

Source: wralsportsfan.com