Sandy MaloneKnoxville, TN – Eighteen people were arrested and 47 others were ejected from the stadium after angry fans threw trash on the field during the University of Tennessee’s (UT) football team’s loss to Ole Miss on Saturday.
University of Mississippi was beating Tennessee 31-to-26 on Oct. 16 when Volunteers fans started showing bad sportsmanship in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, WATE reported.
UT fans, unhappy with a call by the referees, rained cups, bottles, trash, and other debris down on the field.
The game was delayed for about 20 minutes with only 54 seconds left on the clock, WATE reported.
A forfeit warning was issued before fans settled down, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Mississippi’s coach, Lane Kiffin, was targeted with a golf ball.
The Ole Miss players had to briefly move onto the field to get out of the way of the storm from the stands, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
Dang, Tennessee fans are trash. pic.twitter.com/EfetGMnPqf
— 🕷️🎃Noticeably S.P.O.O.K.Y. 💀⚰️ (@PrAaHe) October 17, 2021
UT’s own marching band and cheerleaders were evacuated from the stadium before the game was resumed and the Volunteers lost.
The scene in Knoxville was WILD tonight 😳😳
(via @LateKickJosh)
— 247Sports (@247Sports) October 17, 2021
A preliminary report released by the University of Tennessee Police Department showed that 18 people were arrested during the melee, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
Another 47 people were ejected from the football stadium.
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman said afterwards that university police were working to identify the fans that threw trash on the field, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
Plowman said those students could face disciplinary action and be banned from attending future football games.
“We are trying to identify people who threw things onto the field last night in order to hold them accountable,” Plowman said in a statement to the Knoxville News Sentinel. “Further, athletics is working with UTPD and the Division of Student Life to provide recommendations to me and [athletics director] Danny White related to preventing and deterring bad behavior in the stadium, particularly in our student section.”
MAYHEM AT ROCKY TOP 😱
Tennessee fans throwing trash on the field…
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) October 17, 2021
A spokesperson for the university said UT was considering the addition of security cameras pointed at the student section of Neyland Stadium.
The university said that students who were identified as having participated in the mayhem would go through the student conduct adjudication process, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
Holly Matkin
