OXFORD, Miss. -- Four players were ejected from the Egg Bowl between Mississippi and Mississippi State after a fight at the end of the third quarter.
Ole Miss appeared to score a touchdown on the final play of the quarter Thursday night, when A.J. Brown crossed the goal line. Players started shoving immediately after the play, and the fight spilled across the end zone, with several punches thrown. Both benches emptied onto the field before order was restored.
Brown's touchdown was called back because time had expired in the third quarter. No. 22 Mississippi State was leading 28-3 at the end of the period and won the game 35-3.
Every player on both teams received an unsportsmanlike penalty. Mississippi State's Willie Gay Jr., Jamal Peters and Cameron Dantzler and Ole Miss' C.J. Moore were ejected. Gay was ejected because he had an unsportsmanlike penalty earlier in the game.
Mississippi State first-year coach Joe Moorhead said the fight didn't take away from the win.
"I'm happy as a lark right now," he said. "Certainly, you don't want to see that stuff. I really can't comment on everything that happened because I didn't see it, and I was trying to keep guys on the sideline. We'll look at the film and see what happened.
"But certainly, we want our play to be between the whistles, and we want our execution and our effort to be what's talked about."
Ole Miss coach Matt Luke echoed Moorhead's statement that the fight was unfortunate.
"Hate for our seniors to go out this way because they have been through so much," he said. "But I'm really, really grateful to them."