UK, Virginia Tech players separated before Belk Bowl. Lynn Bowden gets police escort.

Charlotte, N.C.

Bad blood that developed between Kentucky and Virginia Tech players leading up to the Belk Bowl gave way to multiple pregame brush-ups on Tuesday.

Groups of players had to be separated multiple times on the field — once near the Kentucky end zone, again near midfield and at least one more time near the tunnel in which the teams enter and exit.

The UK radio network reported that a Virginia Tech player threw a punch at Lynn Bowden and an unnamed UK assistant during the events. The school could not confirm that any punches were thrown.

UK head coach Mark Stoops normally enters the stadium with a police escort alone. Bowden entered alongside him as the team made its final entry.

A social media video surfaced over the weekend from the teams’ visit to Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. In the video, it appeared that Virginia Tech players directed explicit language toward a group of UK players — Bowden among them — as they entered the racetrack.

Bowden and other Kentucky players on Twitter the last couple of days have alluded to the incident.

“You gone see,” Bowden tweeted on Saturday.

The Roanoke Times shared video of one of the pregame skirmishes Tuesday on its website.

ESPN showed video of the pregame incidents during its broadcast. In that video, Bowden appears to throw a punch at a Virginia Tech player. Bowden also gave a shove to UK’s director of player personnel, Josh Pruitt.