With less than a minute to go in the Mississippi Rebels and Tennessee Volunteers game Saturday night, fans threw trash onto the field following a defensive stop by the Rebels at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Water bottles, pizza boxes, and beer cans littered the field, and a thrown golf ball hit Rebels coach Lane Kiffin. Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey called the fans’ action «unacceptable» and said the league «will review existing Conference policies and the Commissioner’s authority to impose penalties and communicate with the leadership at the University of Tennessee.» Kiffin, who was returning to Knoxville for the first time since 2009 when he coached the Volunteers to a 7-6 season, said after the game he felt a sense of relief. «They were just throwing stuff and I just said put your helmet on and let’s play. Actually there were people who came over that moved us off,» Kiffin said on the field. «They’re passionate fans, and there’s 100,000 people that came to see a show.
