Reporters detail being on the field during Michigan-Ohio State postgame fight
(CBS DETROIT) - The Michigan Wolverines pulled off one of their biggest upsets ever against their rival on Saturday, taking down the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes with a 13-10 win on the road.
However, the teams weren't done fighting even after the final whistle. A skirmish at midfield following the game generated more headlines than the unexpected results.
"Couldn't see for about 10-15 minutes and a lot of the Michigan players and people in the area had the same type of reaction," said Clayton Sayfie, staff writer for The Wolverine.
Sayfie said he was one of the people who was pepper sprayed while filming a video of the brawl between Michigan and Ohio State football players following Saturday's game. He said it's sad to see a celebration turn violent the way it did in Columbus, Ohio.
"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 said.
Garrick Hodge, Ohio State football writer for Eleven Warriors, sees a future where teams are penalized for planting a flag on an opposing team's field, but he doesn't think it will stop happening.
"I mean, when the discipline for each team is you essentially get fined, what is the approximate fine that an SEC team bestows on a team that storms the field, and there's no suspensions on either side? It's really tough for me to get worked up about this," Hodge said.
On Sunday, the Big Ten handed down $100,000 fines for both programs. In a statement, the Big Ten said the teams' actions violated the conference's sportsmanship policy.
"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," the statement said.
Alejandro Zuniga, a 247 Sports writer covering Michigan football, says this isn't the first time Michigan planted its flag on "Block O," but this was the first time Ohio State responded.
"If you're Ohio State, I'm sure their players have a lot of grief for letting Michigan plant the flag on them two years ago in 2022. So, I don't necessarily fault them for trying to respond even though I think it ultimately went too far when it becomes a physical altercation," Zuniga said.
Hodge gave his thoughts on what Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was doing during the skirmish.
"I think he just had kind of a deer in the headlights look. Maybe that's a bad look, maybe it's not, but either way, he seem to not realize what happened until most of the chaos was already over," he said.
Zuniga explained the difference he noticed in the way both coaches handled their teams.
"I think (Michigan coach) Sheronne Moore handled it well. The events happened where he wasn't, and then he got into it and did his best to de-escalate what was a very difficult situation. (Ohio State coach)Ryan Day, we saw the angles. I would hope the leader of a program would try and de-escalate a situation instead of standing by and letting it happen, especially when it got to a physical situation," Zuniga said.
