I got hit with pepper spray at midfield after Michigan football's fourth-straight win over Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio — There were tears shed at Ohio Stadium Saturday afternoon — plenty of them, for various reasons.
Some of them were from this writer, actually, after being pepper sprayed by law enforcement during a brawl started by the Ohio State Buckeyes. Man, did that sting.
What a scene on the field at Ohio Stadium following yet another Buckeye loss to big, bad Michigan, this one 13-10. The Wolverines planted the flag at midfield — just like they did after a 45-23 win in 2022 — and Ohio State players took exception with it.
“Those guys were looking to put a flag on our field, and our guys weren’t going to let that happen,” a dejected Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said of the fracas following his fourth-straight loss to Michigan.
They came out of nowhere in an attempt to prevent it from happening, even though winning the game would’ve been the most effective method.
Then the pepper spray came out of nowhere. According to Ohio State Police: “Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an on-field altercation. During the scuffle, multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray.”
The incident is under investigation.
Quite a few Michigan players turned away and had red eyes. At first, it was unclear what had hit us. Spit? Water? Then you could feel the sensation, and the mouth started to burn. About 20 minutes later, a delayed effect burned the eyes, and it was hard to see for another 15 minutes as we were in the press conference room waiting for head coach Sherrone Moore and Michigan players to discuss their glorious win.
The fracas didn’t really stop with the pepper spray and the dozens of officers attempting to separate the two teams. Ohio State players and staffers continued to resist moving away from midfield, and there were a bunch of Buckeyes that couldn’t let it go.
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“Honestly, it all happened so fast,” Michigan senior EDGE Josaiah Stewart said. “We were planting the flag, and the next thing you know, everyone was getting rushed. A long brawl, a lot of people. They had their whole team there, so there were a lot of them, and next thing you know, we’re all getting pepper sprayed.”
Day cited his players being “prideful guys” as a reason for starting the brawl. Prideful? Really? They seemed frustrated to us. So many of them, like defensive end Jack Sawyer, who couldn’t stop jawing after the game, will leave Ohio State having never beaten Michigan. He was the one that ripped the flag away from Michigan junior EDGE Derrick Moore (3-0 against the Buckeyes).
Of all those OSU seniors that decided to come back for another season, none of them will ever have a pair of gold pants, unless a former player pawns some off for money. That’s what this was about, not a flag plant, something that’s become quite common in college football.
Michigan lost two home games this season — to Texas and Oregon. Both teams planted a flag at midfield, but there were no issues. The Wolverines didn’t do their job in preventing it within the 60 minutes of the game. They went up the tunnel, back to work so they could create a moment like the one Saturday in Columbus.
But Ohio State had to make a scene.
Even the postgame incident couldn’t put a damper on Michigan’s epic win over Ohio State. The Wolverines were 19.5-point underdogs, and nobody except Charles Woodson and Desmond Howard picked them to win.
Michigan’s fifth- and fourth-year seniors are 4-0 versus Ohio State. The juniors are 3-0, the sophomores 2-0 and the freshmen 1-0.
That’s what this day was about.
