Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill went to the ground on the sideline after helmet-to-helmet contact when he was tackled in the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ Outback Bowl loss to Iowa.

Hill was running with the ball when he was tackled with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. He got to the sideline, where he fell down on the ground and was attended to by Mississippi State’s medical staff.

View photos Kylin Hill went to the ground on the sidelines in the Outback Bowl. (via ESPN) More

“He collapsed on the sidelines,” ESPN sideline reporter Molly McGrath said on the game telecast moments after Hill went down. “His eyes rolled into the back of his head. I was standing right there. He lost consciousness for a moment. Medical training staff awoke him, they tried to keep him alert as all of his teammates knelt beside him.”

Hill was taken to the team’s medical training tent but returned to the game on the team’s final drive.

After the game, Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead said he did not believe Hill had lost consciousness and that he went through the proper medical protocol.

Re: Mississippi State’s Kylin Hill appearing to be knocked out on the sideline — coach Joe Moorhead said he wasn’t, to his knowledge, unconscious, and Hill went through protocol with trainers before going back in. @HailStateFB #OutbackBowl — Kelly Parsons (@_kellyparsons) January 1, 2019





Moorhead said Kylin Hill went through the protocol with the training staff before he reentered the game. — Brett Hudson (@Brett_Hudson) January 1, 2019





A spokesperson for Mississippi State told Yahoo Sports that the in-game report that Hill lost consciousness was “completely false.” The spokesperson said Hill was cleared by three physicians to return to the game.

McGrath tweeted after the game that representatives from the school told her that Hill had simply been “woozy” but reported on the telecast what she saw at the time.

Update: Just spoke with Mississippi State representatives who told me that Kylin Hill was “woozy” on the sidelines, but never lost consciousness. — Molly McGrath (@MollyAMcGrath) January 1, 2019





I was standing a foot away. I reported what I saw. — Molly McGrath (@MollyAMcGrath) January 1, 2019





Hill returned to the game when Mississippi State got the ball with 2:13 left trailing by five. He caught a pass on the second play of that drive, though the drive didn’t end in points. Iowa stopped Mississippi State on a fourth down to hold on for a 27-22 win.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

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