Those were all the consequences of Michigan football’s upset victory over Ohio State on Nov. 30, 2024, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio State — who went on to win the 2024-25 College Football Playoff — entered the game with massive expectations, not only its national championship aspirations, but its hopes of avoiding a four-game losing streak to the Wolverines.
Those expectations are even bigger a season later, with the Wolverines in line to potentially make the Big Ten championship and CFP with a win in ‘The Game.’ Ryan Day and Co. may have won a national championship last season, but all Ohio State coaches are ultimately judged by how they fare against ‘That Team Up North.’
One year removed from that scene in Ohio Stadium, here’s what to remember of the brawl that immediately followed ‘The Game’ between Michigan and Ohio State:
Ohio State-Michigan brawl, revisited
Michigan entered the 2024 version of ‘The Game’ as a 19.5-point underdog vs. the Buckeyes, against whom they had won three straight games.
What was initially viewed as a likely beatdown for Ohio State quickly turned into a defensive struggle, with the Wolverines persevering and winning 13-10 with walk-off 21-yard field goal from kicker Dominic Zvada.
Following the field goal, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day and Michigan coach Sherrone Moore shook hands at midfield. Everything seemed like a calm, normal postgame — that is, until Wolverines players walked toward midfield to celebrate with multiple Michigan flags in hand.
After Wolverines players planted a flag at the midfield ‘O’ at the 50-yard line, a scuffle between both teams broke out involving multiple players, lasting about 30 seconds:
During the calm, a Michigan player carried the flag, parading it around the stadium, when Ohio State linebacker Jack Sawyer ripped it away to a loud cheer from the Buckeyes fans. This, naturally, led to more fights.
‘In videos and photos reviewed after the incident, a Michigan officer is seen directing pepper spray at OSU players, and then a Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy sprayed into the air toward Michigan players. Players were told to get back.’
Following the fight — which lasted about four minutes — no charges were pressed and the usage of pepper spray was reviewed. The Big Ten fined both schools $100,000 for the fight.
Before the 2025 season, Moore said he had a discussion with his team and that the flags would not be planted in the future. The 2025 matchup takes place in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“There’ll be no more flag-planting,’ Moore said at Big Ten Media Days. ‘There’ll be no more grabbing the flag.”
Day said he has had discussions with his team as well about how to handle such a situation in the future.
Curiously, Michigan and Ohio State weren’t the only teams to have issues with flag-planting during Rivalry Week 2024. A similar situation broke out in Tallahassee, Florida, later that evening after Florida took down rival Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium. Florida defensive end George Gumbs Jr. planted the Gators’ flag on the Florida State logo at midfield, leading to a brawl.
FSU coach Mike Norvell grabbed the flag and tossed it on the ground after exchanging words with then-Florida coach Billy Napier. Fights also broke out after North Carolina-North Carolina State and at Arizona State and Arizona, for similar flag-planting incidents.
In December 2024, following last year’s Michigan incident, Ohio introduced a bill to make flag-planting illegal at Ohio State’s stadium. Though it will be another year before ‘The Game’ returns to Columbus, it will be interesting to see how Ohio State — and Michigan — players react should the Buckeyes win.