(CBS DETROIT)The Michigan Wolverines defeated the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes 13–10 on the road on Saturday, pulling off one of their biggest upsets ever against their nemesis.
But even after the final whistle, the teams continued to battle.Following the game, a midfield skirmish made more attention than the surprising outcomes.
Clayton Sayfie, a staff writer for The Wolverine, stated that many Michigan players and locals had the same kind of reaction when they couldn’t see for ten to fifteen minutes.
Sayfie claimed that while recording a video of the altercation between the football players from Michigan and Ohio State after Saturday’s game, he was among those who were pepper sprayed. He said it’s unfortunate when a celebration in Columbus, Ohio, devolves into violence.
“It’s unfortunate when things escalate to that degree but at the same time, part of this, as long as it doesn’t get out of hand, is why we love college football,” Sayfie stated.
Although he doesn’t think it will cease happening, Garrick Hodge, the Eleven Warriors’ football reporter for Ohio State, envisions a time in the future when teams will be punished for putting a flag on the field of an opponent.
“What is the approximate fine that an SEC team imposes on a team that storms the field, with no bans on either side, where the discipline for each team is just a fine? I find it very difficult to get heated up over this,” Hodge remarked.
The Big Ten imposed $100,000 fines on both programs on Sunday. The Big Ten announced in a statement that the teams’ behavior was against the conference’s sportsmanship code.
“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,” stated the statement.
Although Michigan has previously raised its flag on “Block O,” this was the first time Ohio State reacted, according to Alejandro Zuniga, a writer for 247 Sports who covers Michigan football.
“I’m sure that Ohio State’s players are furious that Michigan was able to humiliate them in 2022. Therefore, even though I believe it went too far when it turned into a physical altercation, I don’t necessarily blame them for trying to retaliate,” Zuniga said.
Hodge shared his opinions about the actions of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day during the altercation.
He just had a deer-in-the-headlights kind of appearance, in my opinion. He seemed to be unaware of what had happened until the majority of the chaos had passed, which may or may not be a poor look,” he remarked.
Zuniga described the distinction he observed between the two coaches’ approaches to managing their teams.
“I believe Sheronne Moore, the Michigan coach, handled it effectively. He was not present when the events occurred, but he entered the fray and tried his best to defuse the extremely challenging situation. Ryan Day, the coach at Ohio State, showed us the angles. I would think that a program leader would make an effort to defuse a situation rather than just watching it unfold, particularly if it escalated into a physical altercation,” Zuniga stated.
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