Saturday’s not alright for fighting.
But a fight nevertheless happened at the end of the game between Louisville and Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Hells.
The Cardinals led, 16-14, with time ticking away. (UNC had a timeout remaining but hadn’t used it on the final Louisville drive, after a game-sealing interception.) Louisville received the snap and took a knee as the clock hit 15 seconds.
North Carolina, despite not using its final timeout, deployed the Schiano-style effort to blow up victory formation. Which sparked a shoving match match between opposing lineman. Which eventually became a full-blown brawl.
Through it all, time expired and the game ended. It will be interesting to see whether the ACC or the individual schools hand out suspensions as a result of the fracas.
The loss dropped North Carolina to 5-5. The Tar Heels need one win in remaining games against Virginia and NC State to become bowl-eligible in Belichick’s second season on the job.
And that could be harder to do against Virginia next week, if one or more UNC players end up being required to sit out.