COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A brawl broke out between Michigan and Ohio State as the flag was planted in the middle of the field at the Horseshoe after the Wolverines' surprising 13-10 win over the No. 2 Buckeyes on Saturday. Police eventually used pepper spray to break up the brawl, which lasted about five minutes
Players and coaches from both teams were left bloodied, and Ohio State University police said one officer was injured. As the Wolverines gathered to celebrate under their Block O logo, several Ohio State players rushed in and attacked them.
Michigan players fought back. Wolverines coach Sherone Moore and Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork were among those attempting to break up the numerous skirmishes. Several police officers eventually intervened and tried to create a line between the two teams
Ohio State University police said in a statement that "officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up the altercation at the scene." During the melee, several Ohio State and Michigan officers used pepper spray." They added that one officer was injured during the altercation and "was transported for treatment." Ohio State police said they would continue to investigate the incident.
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day later blamed Michigan for starting the brawl by planting a flag. "I don't know the details, but I know they want to put a flag on our field and our guys are not going to tolerate that," Day said. "We're going to find out exactly what happened, but this is our field and obviously we're embarrassed that we lost the game, but we've got some proud boys on this team that are not going to tolerate that.
" Moore said he wished both teams had handled the incident better. "There was emotion on both sides," Moore said. "We saw them with the flag and our boys waving it around and their boys attacking us.
There are emotions on both sides. It shouldn't be like this. Rivalry games get heated, but this one is the biggest in the country, so we have to handle it better." The Wolverines entered the game trailing by 20.5 points, the second-largest lead in the rivalry since 1978. But after a scoreless second half, Dominik Zvada sank a 21-yard field goal with 45 seconds left to give Michigan its fourth straight win in the series. As the incident finally died down, Wolverines All-American defensive tackle Mason Graham and Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer exchanged emphatic curses as several players waved goodbye to the Buckeyes.
Karel Mullins, who ran for 116 yards and scored the Wolverines' only touchdown, called the Buckeyes' willingness to fight afterward "low level." "When you play a great game like that, you hate to see that after the game," he said. "It's bad for the sport and it's bad for college football, but at the end of the day, some people need to learn how to lose. You can't keep fighting because you lost a game. There was all that fighting -- we had 60 minutes, we had four quarters to do all the fighting, and now people are talking and they want to fight." ... People need to get better.”
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