legrandangle-lgm

A dramatic end to one of college football’s most heated rivalries only intensified after Saturday’s final whistle Michigan And State of Ohio players broke out in a fight after the Wolverines upset the No. 2 Buckeyes 13-10 at Ohio Stadium.

GO DEEPER

How Michigan stunned No. 2 Ohio State for fourth straight rivalry win: Key insights

As the two teams met at midfield after the game, a group of Wolverines attempted to plant a Michigan flag at midfield. Ohio State players tried to interrupt the celebration and the heated argument turned into a brawl. At one point, Ohio State defensive end came up short Jack Sawyer ripped the flag away from a Michigan player and threw it on the turf.

After The Game, a fight broke out between Michigan and Ohio State pic.twitter.com/XPwdAjfYzN

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 30, 2024

Police and team personnel intervened to break up the fight. In addition, some players were seen on the ground rubbing their faces after coming into contact with pepper spray.

“After the game, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an altercation on the field,” Ohio State University police said. said in a statement. “During the scuffle, several officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray. OSUPD is the lead gaming agency and will continue to investigate this.”

Line of police on bicycles separating the teams. Photo: Austin Meek / The Athletic

Players and coaches from Michigan and Ohio State had differing views on the fighting.

“For such a great game, you hate seeing things like that after the game. That’s just bad for the sport, bad for college football, but at the end of the day, they’ve got to learn how to lose, man.” Michigan running back Kalel Mullings said in a postgame interview with Fox.

“You can’t fight and stuff just because you lost a match. All that fighting, we had 60 minutes, we had four quarters to do all that fighting. And now people want to talk and fight. That’s wrong. That’s just bad for the game. Classless, in my opinion. And people have to get better.”

Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said his players defended their home court.

“I don’t know all the details of it, but I know these guys want to put a flag on our field and our guys weren’t going to let that happen,” Day said.

The loss – Ohio State’s fourth in a row against Michigan – will likely cost the Buckeyes (10-2 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) a spot in the conference title game. No. 1 Oregon has already secured his place in the championship and number 4 Penn State will earn second place with a win Maryland on Saturday. The Buckeyes still have a better than 99 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff and now have a 92 percent chance of hosting a first-round game, according to The Athletic’s Austin Mock.

Michigan (7-5, 5-4) and Ohio State were tied at 10 for the entire second half until the final minute of the fourth quarter, when Michigan kicker Dominic Zvada hit a 21-yard field goal to give the Wolverines the three-point cushion. Ohio State failed to gain more than a yard on the next drive, turning the ball over on downs and giving Michigan its 62nd series victory.

“We’re going to win in your house and we’re going to plant the flag,” Michigan quarterback Davis Warren said. “You should have done something about it.”

The flag planting is not a new tradition in college football, especially between these two teams. In 2022, after Michigan earned its first win at Ohio Stadium since 2000 – a 45-23 victory over the then-top-ranked Buckeyes – the team also placed the “M” above the “O” logo at Ohio State’s midfield. That flag was later displayed in the lobby of the Towsley Museum in Michigan’s Schembechler Hall.

Wolverines players plant the flag at the Buckeyes’ 50-yard line after the 2022 victory at Ohio Stadium. Photo: Joseph Maiorana / USA Today

Notorious, former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield planted the OU flag above the ‘O’ emblem in 2017, when the Sooners upset the Buckeyes 31-16. Mayfield even took a victory lap with the flag before sticking it in the ground, even though the Ohio State team had already left for the locker room.

Mayfield said at the time that he and his teammates’ response to the 2017 unrest was in part because it was “embarrassing” to hear Ohio State’s players sing their fight song on the Sooners’ field after a 45-24 drubbing the year before.

What I saw on the field

With about two minutes left, several dozen law enforcement officers on bicycles gathered in the end zone as part of postgame proceedings. Michigan players and coach Sherrone Moore went back and forth with Ohio State fans behind the Michigan bench in the final seconds, and there was a huge celebration on the field with water spraying as soon as the clock hit zero. As Moore did his postgame interview on Fox, a group of Michigan players ran to the end zone to celebrate with the fans, while another group gathered at midfield to plant the flag, just as they did after their win against the Buckeyes in 2022.

The pushing broke out as players were planting the flag, and a chaotic scene ensued with some staffers rushing in to break up the fight and others running away. The fight seemed under control, but then flared up again. At that point, law enforcement officers were involved in separating the teams, and at least one Ohio State fan was handcuffed on the field. I noticed a strong chemical taste as I got closer to the center of the altercation, and a reporter walked away from the scene, rubbed her eyes and said she couldn’t see. Michigan players said several of their teammates were also sprayed with mace.

At that point, Moore and other Michigan staffers tried to stop players and direct them into one of the end zones. The law enforcement officers lined up at midfield with their bicycles to separate the teams and the players gradually left the field. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day was on the sideline; the broadcast later showed that he asked his players What happened. — Austin Meek, Michigan beat writer

This story will be updated.

(Photo: Jason Mowry/Getty Images)