The Pac-12 conference didn’t take long to act on the brawl that broke out in UCLA’s 48-12 loss to Arizona on Thursday.
The conference chose to suspend 10 players in total, six of them being Bruins. Sophomore defensive tackle Cassius Marsh was suspended for two consecutive games while sophomore wide receiver Randall Carroll, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Shaquelle Evans, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ricky Marvray and senior wide receiver Taylor Embree ““ who was ejected from the game ““ were each handed one-game penalties. Redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Albert Cid was suspended for a half game.
“The Conference is extremely disappointed in the actions of the student-athletes involved in this incident,” comissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. “It is unacceptable behavior and violated Conference rules, as well as NCAA fighting rules. I have taken these actions today because it is imperative that we hold our student-athletes and coaches to the highest standards of sportsmanship,” said Scott.
The incident occurred when a streaker created chaos on the field with four seconds remaining in the first half. The streaker, disguised as a referee, blew a whistle that stopped play and proceeded to run around the field. While stadium security was busy trying to detain him, a fight between the teams broke out at the UCLA 43 yard line.
Players from both sidelines rushed to midfield, some of them trying to break it up while others continued to fight.
“Some guys and myself tried to hold everyone back,” redshirt junior tight end Joseph Fauria said. “There were also guys that made the wrong choice and tried to fight back and that’s not what we need right now. We need to keep our composure.”
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said Thursday that he would review the tape himself to see if internal action would be taken. He also stated his displeasure with the ease of access to the field the streaker had.
“The fracas was two youngsters getting into it,” Neuheisel said after the game. “It was frustration. I don’t know how it started. I just know that that’s not the conduct that we expect from our team. We’ll work hard to correct it.”
Neuheisel released a statement of his own on Friday that stood by the conference’s decisions.
“On behalf of the entire UCLA football program, I respect the Pac-12’s decision to suspend six of our players after the unfortunate incident in the second quarter of yesterday’s Arizona game,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said in a statement. “As a program, we certainly do not condone the actions of our student-athletes involved, no matter what circumstances they found themselves in at the time.”
The suspensions leave UCLA with only four available scholarship receivers, one of which is freshman Devin Lucien who has been redshirting up to this point in the year. Another receiver, redshirt junior Jerry Johnson, has not played this season because he’s still nursing a fractured left ankle he sustained last season.
“That’s not what we represent here at UCLA,” Marvray said after the game. “It’s not us.”