Players suspended for NC State, ECU game after bowl game fight
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- NC State will lose Erickson and Cleveland for first half of 2025 season opener.
- ECU's Jayson Tarpeh suspended for full game following Military Bowl ejection.
- NCAA rule mandates suspensions for second-half ejections in final season games.
N.C. State football will miss two players in the first half of its season opener, head coach Dave Doeren announced Tuesday, while East Carolina will be without one for the entire game.
Offensive guard Val Erickson and defensive lineman Brandon Cleveland will not start due to ejections that took place at the end of the 2024 Military Bowl. According NCAA rule 5.1b, players who are ejected for fighting in the second half of the final game of the season must serve first-half suspension in the next game in which they are eligible.
“We have two guys, Val Erickson and Brandon Cleveland, that are not available for the first half,” Doeren said. “DK Kaufman was the other guy ejected.”
ECU offensive lineman Jayson Tarpeh was ejected after shoving Cleveland from behind. Cleveland lost his helmet, which hit an official in the face. Tarpeh will be suspended for the entire game, according to an ECU athletics spokesperson, and is not on the travel roster.
The Wolfpack lost to the Pirates, 26-21, after giving up a late fourth-quarter lead in last season’s finale. It devolved into a fight, with eight ejected players between the two teams.
Tamarcus Cooley, now at LSU, was also ejected. During the game, officials also said Nos. 54 and 59 were ejected for the Wolfpack, but the roster featured two 54s and no 59. An N.C. State athletics spokesperson did not know at the time which players were ejected. Cleveland wears No. 44.
Former East Carolina players Dontavius Nash and Jhari Patterson were ejected, along with Tarpeh. Patterson graduated last season, while Nash transferred to Michigan State.
Some ejections may have been for unsportsmanlike behavior, which does not carry a suspension, but the reasoning for the additional ejections have not been confirmed.
The ACC and American Athletic Conference told the News & Observer in January they were investigating the incident but did not provide additional details or indicate whether the institutions were fined.
“As I stated after that game last year, I was embarrassed as the head coach, as a program, and know that I let down our fan base, our alums, our former players,” Doeren said last week during his first pregame news conference. “What happened after the game can’t happen and won’t happen.”
The Wolfpack has repeatedly pointed back to its bowl loss as motivation entering this season, citing its effort and behavior down the stretch.
“We got out of character at the end of the game,” Carter said this week. “That’s not who we are. [We prevent that by] being disciplined, communicating up front, just handling the pressure, making sure that we’re all on the same page, but not letting nothing like that happen again. That’s not the standard that’s on our team or our university.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 1:55 PM.
