Ohio State-Michigan Game Ends With Brawl, Pepper Spray

A football game between Ohio State and Michigan is often going to be a memorable matchup, given the long rivalry between the two schools. When this year’s game had ended, it was indeed memorable — both for the results on the scoreboard and, unfortunately, for things that had nothing to do with touchdowns, passes or tackles.

As The Athletic’s Austin Meek and Lauren Merola reported, it was Michigan who emerged with an upset victory in Columbus, defeating the Buckeyes by a score of 13-10. It was the fourth time in as many years that the Wolverines were the victors in the rivalry game. Once the game was over, Michigan’s players sought to plant their team’s flag on Ohio State’s turf; Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer didn’t much like that and tore the flag down. Tempers were already high at that point, and soon things escalated into a brawl between the two teams.

Soon enough, footage surfaced online of local police using pepper spray to bring the brawl to a close. The Twitter/X account of the podcast UMGoBlue noted that their photographer covering the game “got pepper sprayed getting this content.”

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Given the 13-10 scoreline, you might guess that the game itself was suspenseful, and you’d be correct in thinking that. The Associated Press’s Mitch Stacy reported that Michigan won the game with just 45 seconds left, via a Dominic Zvada field goal. Besides the state of the rivalry, this loss could have bigger ramifications for Ohio State. The Athletic’s analysis pointed out that the Buckeyes could miss a shot at the Big Ten title as a result.