Officials have to step in to separate feuding players all the time, but rarely do they have to separate a player from a big red blob.
After Delaware’s Sean Wilson caught a 21-yard touchdown strike from Nick Minicucci to knot last week’s game against Western Kentucky at 14-14, Wilson celebrated in front of the WKU fans. Little did he know, he was about to get an earful from the biggest WKU fan of them all.
Western Kentucky mascot Big Red walked toward Wilson as the two got into a heated exchange of trash talk. It escalated enough that the referee had to step in to get Wilson back to his teammates.
The moment got us thinking … what other contentious mascot-player interactions have there been in college sports? Here’s a look at four more.
Big Jay flips off Kentucky
You know things are heated when there’s a confrontation before the game even starts. As the Kentucky basketball team waited outside their locker room before a matchup with Kansas in 2023, the Jayhawk mascot (otherwise known as Big Jay), walked by and appeared to give a … um … disapproving hand gesture in the Wildcats’ direction.
Whether Big Jay actually gave Kentucky the middle finger – and whether birds even have fingers – is up for debate. But whatever the gesture was, it appeared to be returned by one of the Kentucky players as Big Jay left the frame.
Kansas won the game, 89-84, and Big Jay’s pregame psych out must have played at least a small part.
Duke Dog trolls … Duke
James Madison University’s teams are called the Dukes, and their mascot is named Duke Dog. So, it’s a little awkward when they play against a school named Duke, which they did in the Round of 32 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Just to dispel any notion of camaraderie due to the shared name, Duke Dog went straight-up villain by trolling Duke big man Kyle Filipowski, who had been involved in a tripping incident a couple weeks prior in a game against rival North Carolina.
Naturally, Duke Dog went straight for the jugular. Or, more accurately, for the shin.
Despite the troll job, JMU was unable to pull off the upset, ultimately losing by almost 40 points.
Cam smacks AAMU mascot
He’s wasn’t an opposing player, but he’s an ex-college and NFL player so we’ll count it. Back in October 2025, former Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton was with the First Take crew at Legion Field in Birmingham to cover the Magic City Classic between Alabama State and Alabama A&M. Seems like a fun time, right?
Well, after the Alabama A&M mascot, Butch, lost to Stinger, the Alabama State mascot, in a 40-yard dash, things got a bit heated. As Newton celebrated with Stinger, Butch seemed to take exception, knocking Newton’s trademark hat off his head.
Newton responded by winding up with a big right-hand slap to Butch’s mascot head.
The scuffle went viral, and Newton later said it was “all in good fun,” but didn’t expressly admit that the interaction was preplanned.
Butler’s Blue III bites own player
It’s one thing when a mascot goes after an opposing player, but it’s quite another when they attack their own team. In 2017, Butler’s Blue III – a real-life bulldog – bit linebacker Xavier Colvin in the leg as the team marched out of the tunnel.
Once we got all CSI on the lead-up to the incident, it was clear that Blue was agitated after Colvin had accidentally stepped on him.
Luckily, both parties emerged unscathed and Blue even issued a public statement saying that there were no hard feelings.