(CNN) — An ugly brawl after the final whistle marred Michigan’s shocking upset victory over rival Ohio State, which entered the game as the No. 2 team in the nation.
In the 120th edition of “The Game,” the Buckeyes were home favorites by nearly 20 points, looking to end a three-game losing streak against their arch-rivals and secure a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game.
The game was tied at 10 apiece in the final minutes as Michigan drove the ball deep into Ohio State territory. Michigan took a 13-10 lead on Dominick Zvada’s 21-yard field goal.
With no timeouts remaining, Ohio State was unable to fight back, and Michigan ran away with one of the nation’s most heated rivalries, the Horseshoe College, with four straight wins.
The win helped the University of Michigan, last year’s national champion, overcome a disappointing season, but things took an ugly turn after the game.
A Wolverines player tried to place a Michigan flag over the Buckeyes logo at midfield at Ohio Stadium, leading to pushing and shoving and eventually members of both teams throwing punches.
Media reports said it took several minutes for stadium security and police to separate the teams, and pepper spray was used to bring the situation under control.
Television broadcasts showed players wiping their eyes and coughing in the aftermath of the scuffle.
CNN has contacted the Ohio State University Police Department and the Columbus Police Department for details about the incident.
“When you have a game this great, you don’t want to see something like that after the game. It’s bad for the sport. It’s bad for college football,” Michigan running back Karel Mullins said on the Fox broadcast.
“At the end of the day, some people have to learn how to lose. Just because we lost a game doesn’t mean we’re fighting something like this. We have 60 minutes, all of that fighting. We had 4 quarters of time to do combat and now people want to talk and fight. That’s bad for the game. People are better for it in my opinion. It has to be.”
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said after the incident that he believed all of his players were safe, adding, “There was some crazy stuff going on there.”
The sixth-year coach also talked about the moment that led to the ugly scene.
“I don’t know the specifics, but I know they’re going to put a flag on our field, and our players weren’t going to let that happen,” Day said. “So we’re going to find out exactly what happened, but this is our field and we’re certainly embarrassed by the fact that we lost the game. But we have a lot of pride in our team that wasn’t going to let that happen.” We have some great players.”
CNN has reached out to the Michigan and Ohio State athletic departments for comment on the postgame altercation.
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