A fight broke out and several players were ejected at the end of the Military Bowl between NC State and ECU.

Emotions were understandably high for this matchup. NC State and East Carolina are about 80 miles apart, and although they don't play every season, they've been on each other's schedule plenty over the years.

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"Obviously didn't like that last little bit of the game," said Pirates coach Blake Harrell, who was hired as head coach after coaching the Pirates to a 4-0 record while serving as interim head coach. "No place for that in sports."

NC State's Tamarcus Cooley took issue with Pirates wide receiver Yannick Smith during the closing seconds of the game after Smith appeared to swipe a towel off the waist of Cooley.

Cooley then chased Smith towards the sideline and pushed him to the ground near the Pirates' sideline. Two more ECU players came to Smith's aid and the fight began to spread. It took roughly a full minute for officials brought the situation under control and around eight minutes before ECU took the final snap of the game.

“I'm embarrassed as a coach,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “I know our players are, too. That is not how people of this program, the players of this program, staff of this program, want anything to do with something like that. To me, it was a terrible response to something that happened to one of our players, and there's no excuses for it. So I apologize to ECU and their team for the way we responded."

Rod Tucker, an umpire in the officiating crew, was cut underneath the eye during the fight. Five players from NC State, including wide receiver Noah Rogers and Cooley, were ejected, along with three players from ECU.

The Wolfpack lost to the Pirates 26-21. The game was decided on a pick from NC State quarterback CJ Bailey with less than a minute remaining in the game.

It is the second time the Wolfpack have been involved in a fight during or after the game. After the Wolfpack's final game of the season against the North Carolina Tar Heels, a fight broke out between the two teams after Wolfpack players attempted to plant a flag in the middle of Kenan Stadium.

The Wolfpack and the Pirates kick off the 2025 season against each other at Carter-Finley Stadium.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.