BLACKSBURG, Va. -- At least 15 people were arrested early Sunday after a shouting match between Virginia Tech and LSU fans got out of hand.

Police officers in riot gear dispersed a crowd of about 3,000 unruly fans, hours before 14th-ranked LSU was to play 16th-ranked Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

Police Lt. B.E. Bradbery said football fans gathered on opposite sides of Main Street and began exchanging team chants about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. By midnight the crowd had grown and become disorderly, Bradbery said.

Blacksburg police called in every off-duty officer and contacted other police agencies for help. Police Chief William H. Brown declared the disturbance an "unlawful assembly" about 2 a.m., and officers in riot gear made their way down Main Street and scattered the crowd by firing "pepper balls, pepper spray encased in plastic."

Order was restored by 3:30 a.m., police said.

Those arrested were charged with a variety of offenses, including public intoxication, disorderly conduct and felony assault on police officers, Bradbery said.