Mayhem ensued on the field postgame after Michigan stunned Ohio State with a 13-10 upset win — its fourth-consecutive victory in the heated rivalry series. A massive fight broke out near midfield when Wolverines players attempted to plant on flag on the logo, to which Buckeyes players took exception. Reports of pepper spray being used by law enforcement to break up the chaotic scene resulted in at least two Michigan players and a photographer being affected, according to Brandon Marcello.
“I don’t know all the details of it, but I know these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and aren’t going to let that happen,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “I’ll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field. Certainly we’re embarrassed by the fact that we lost the game, but there’s some prideful guys on this team that we’re going to just let that happen.”
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, who served as the acting head coach for a suspended Jim Harbaugh last season in a win against Ohio State, addressed the postgame chaos, emphasizing the need for better control of emotions.
“It’s 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.”
Day added that he thinks everybody involved in the fight is okay, but could not confirm for sure during the press conference.
A disastrous performance by Ohio State resulted in yet another loss to rival Michigan, and most likely knocking them out of the Big Ten Championship Game, barring the results Saturday of games involving Indiana and Penn State. Day dropped to 1-4 against the Wolverines since taking over as head coach in 2019.
Criticisms reached a new boiling point after the loss. Ohio State would owe Day more than $37 million to buyout his contract — the second-largest amount in the country behind only Kirby Smart at Georgia.
Day seemed reluctant to discuss anything further about the Buckeyes’ chances of reaching the College Football Playoff and his confidence in kicker Jayden Fielding, who missed two field goals — 38 and 34 yards — in the loss to add to the frustration for Ohio State.
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“I’m not there right now, quite honestly,” Day said. “Still trying to digest everything that just happened. Got a locker room full of guys that are just devastated. I thought they played with great emotion. I thought the defense played their tails off and I thought everybody played hard. Just the overall execution wasn’t good enough, especially on offense. We just couldn’t control the game in the run game. Overall execution was not good enough in a game like this. That’s really what I’m thinking about right now and the guys in that locker room.”
