The wild postgame brawl between Ohio State and Michigan was one of the major headlines of college football’s rivalry weekend.
The melee on Nov. 30 started when Michigan players attempted to celebrate their 13-10 upset win over the Buckeyes by planting a flag at midfield. Ohio State players too exception, and a massive fight broke out, with some police officers deploying pepper spray to break up the combatants.
Now, we know exactly how many officers sprayed the crowd, thanks to Matt Baker of The Athletic.
“Not sure if this was public knowledge previously, but an Ohio State spokesperson says 3 total officers used pepper spray during the brawl at the end of the Buckeyes-Michigan game: 1 each from University of Michigan PD, Franklin County Sheriff’s and OSUPD. Investigation’s ongoing,” Baker tweeted Tuesday.
Reporters and players from both teams were caught in the pepper spray. Both schools were eventually fined $100,000 by the Big Ten, a punishment Ohio State and Michigan willingly accepted.
The entire chaotic scene ignited a debate on the practice of flag-planting, which also caused postgame issues in a number of other places that day.
ESPN’s College GameDay discussed flag-planting on the air last Saturday, with panelists like Ohio State alum Kirk Herbstreit saying it’s a problem that must be dealt with.
“It’s a bad look for the sport what we all watched. It wasn’t just Ohio State-Michigan; it seemed to go on throughout the whole day,” Herbstreit said. “I think if you make that a rule where you can’t plant the flag, maybe that’s a start. If the home team in those rivalry games, if the police go out there and protect that [logo], if that becomes a new thing, you could maybe do that.”
When Ohio State and Michigan meet again in Ann Arbor next November, you can bet that the police and security working the game will have a plan ready for any postgame fracas.
Related: Michigan Players Were Pepper Sprayed During Ohio State Brawl