CNN
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An ugly brawl after the final whistle marred Michigan’s shocking upset win over rival Ohio State, who entered the game at the No. 2 team in the nation.
In the 120th edition of ‘The Game,’ the Buckeyes were a nearly at 20-point favorite at home as they looked to snap a three-game losing streak against their archrivals and secure their place in the Big Ten championship game.
The game was tied at 10 points apiece in the final minute of the game as Michigan drove the ball deep into Ohio State territory. Michigan took at 13-10 lead on a 21-yard Dominic Zvada field goal.
With no timeouts remaining, Ohio State was unable to respond, and Michigan escaped The Horseshoe with its fourth consecutive win in one of the country’s most heated rivalries.
The win helped salvage a disappointing season for defending national champion Michigan, but things took an ugly turn after the game ended.
A Wolverines player attempted to plant a Michigan banner on the Buckeyes logo at midfield in Ohio Stadium, which led to pushing and shoving and eventually punches being thrown by members of both teams.
It took several minutes for stadium security and police to separate the two teams, with pepper spray being dispersed to get the situation under control, according to multiple media reports.
The television broadcast showed players wiping their eyes and coughing in the aftermath of the brawl.
CNN has reached out to Ohio State University police and Columbus police for more information on the incident.
“For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game. Bad for the sport. Bad for college football,” Michigan Running back Kalel Mullings told the FOX broadcast.
“At the end of the day, some people got to learn how to lose. You can’t be fighting this stuff just because you lost the game. All that fighting, we had 60 minutes, we had four quarters to do all that fighting and now people want to talk and fight. That’s wrong. It’s bad for the game. Classless in my opinion. People got to be better.”
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said he thinks all his players are okay following the incident, adding “there was a couple things kind of crazy that went on down there.”
The sixth year coach also described the moments that led to the ugly scenes.
“I don’t know all the details of it but I know these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren’t going to let that happen,” Day said. “So, I will find out exactly what happened, but this is our field and certainly we’re embarrassed at the fact we lost the game. But there are some prideful guys on the team that weren’t just going to let that happen.”
CNN has reached out to the athletic departments for Michigan and Ohio State for comment on the postgame altercation.
CNN’s Jacob Lev contributed to this report
