Police Pepper Spray Players After On-Field Brawl Breaks Out at Michigan vs. Ohio State Football Game

A journalist and a photographer were also reportedly hit by the spray as the rival teams fought

As one of college football's biggest rivalries brawled after a heated game, police deployed pepper spray, hitting players on both sides, plus other personnel on the field.

On Saturday, Nov. 30, the Michigan Wolverines were celebrating a 13-10 away victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes (their fourth-consecutive win over the team) by planting their flag at Columbus' Ohio Stadium when an OSU player interfered — and a brawl erupted.

In a post-game clip that Columbus radio station WBNS-FM shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), OSU’s Jack Sawyer could be heard saying, “They’re not f------ planting a flag on our f------ field again.”

As the Wolverines attempted to do just that — plant a Michigan flag at midfield — the defensive end grabbed the flag and threw it on the ground, prompting a physical altercation to break out between the two teams, according to footage shared by sports journalist Brandon Marcello on X.

After a Michigan supporter picked up the flag, several OSU players tried to grab it, the footage shows.

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As the on-field fight escalated, security officials and police officers attempted to break it up, with several cops using pepper spray, OSU Police confirmed in an official statement on X after the game.

“Following the game, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an on-field altercation,” the statement read. “During the scuffle, multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray.”

OSU Police also stated that they are the “lead agency” for games at Ohio Stadium, and said they “will continue to investigate" the incident.

Footage captured by Michigan fan blog UMGoBlue shows one cop tackling an OSU player to the ground and another using pepper spray. The officer appeared to point the blast at a group of players but, due to the wind on the field, some of the spray blew back in the opposite direction.

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Pepper spray reportedly hit not only players involved in the altercation, but others who were on the field as well, including the photographer who captured UMGoBlue's footage and a journalist.

Following the fight, Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde wrote on X that he “got secondhand pepper sprayed,” and stated in a separate post that “a lot of people” from both teams were hit by the spray.

Two Michigan players were seen squinting and rubbing their eyes after the on-field brawl, sideline footage shared by FOX College Football shows.

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Addressing the fight and his players' behavior in a post-game press conference, OSU head coach Ryan Day said his team has too much pride to sit idly by as Michigan marks the territory.

"I don't know all the details of it," Day said, according to CBS Sports. “I know that those guys were looking to put a flag on our field, and our guys weren't going to let that happen. I'll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field.”

The coach added: “Certainly, we're embarrassed that we lost the game, but there's some prideful guys on this team that weren't going to let that happen.”