The Big Ten levied $100,000 fines against both Michigan and Ohio State in response to the postgame brawl that broke out after the Wolverines’ 13-10 victory in Saturday’s edition of The Game, the conference announced. The fight violated Big Ten sportsmanship policy, which serves as grounds for the penalties. Both schools are expected to accept the fines, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. It remains unclear whether the schools will issue further penalties on the parties involved in the fight, but the conference announced that it considered the matter concluded.
“The Big Ten Conference has determined that the actions of both teams following the Michigan-Ohio State football game on Saturday, November 30, 2024, violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy,” the conference said in a statement. “Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders.
“As a result of these violations, the Big Ten Conference has issued an institutional fine to both the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University in the amount of $100,000 each. The Big Ten Conference considers this matter concluded and will have no further comment.”
As Wolverines players attempted to plant a flag on the Ohio State midfield logo, Buckeyes players rushed to confront them, resulting in mayhem on the field and a chaotic scene that took several minutes to settle with law enforcement and security stepping in to break up the brawl.
247Sports’ Brandon Marcello captured footage of Ohio State senior defensive end Jack Sawyer ripping away the Michigan flag and throwing it on the field during the scuffle. Police reportedly used pepper spray with two Wolverines players, as well as a photographer, who were spotted on the ground rubbing their faces, according to Marcello. Police eventually formed a human wall at the midfield line to separate the two sides.
“We respect the Big Ten Conference’s decision in this matter,” Ohio State said in a statement. “What happened post-game yesterday was unfortunate. Good sportsmanship is always important in everything we do at Ohio State. Moving forward, we will continue to examine and address our post-game protocols to ensure our student-athletes, coaches, visiting teams and staff safely exit the field.”
Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, who served as the acting head coach for a suspended Jim Harbaugh last season in a win against Ohio State, also addressed the postgame chaos.
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“There was emotion on both sides that can’t happen,” Moore said. “Rivalry games get heated, especially this one. It’s the biggest one in the country. So we got to handle that better. … I addressed it in the locker room. We’ll address it again. But that’s both sides.”
Cody Nagel contributed to this report.
