Dominic Zvada scored a 21-yard field goal with 45 seconds left and Michigan stunned No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 on Saturday, likely ending the Buckeyes’ hopes of returning to the Big Ten title game.
Late in the game, Kalel Mullings broke away for a 27-yard run, setting up the Wolverines (7-5, 5-4) at the Ohio State 17-yard line with two minutes remaining. The drive stopped at the 3 and Zvada came in for the chip shot.
Ohio State (10-2, 7-2, No. 2 CFP) got the ball back but couldn’t move it, with Will Howard throwing incomplete on fourth down to seal the Wolverines’ fourth straight victory over their bitter rival seal.
After the game, Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer grabbed the top of the Wolverines’ flag and ripped it from the pole as the brawl moved toward the Michigan bench. Eventually, police officers rushed to the ugly scene.
The on-field brawl between the teams required police intervention with pepper spray.
Ohio State Police said in a statement that “multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray.” According to the statement, Ohio State Police will investigate the fight.
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said he understood his players’ actions.
“There are some proud guys on our team who wouldn’t sit back and let that happen,” Day said.
The two Ohio State players who were made available after the game waved away questions about it.
Michigan running back Kalel Mullings, who rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown, didn’t like how the Buckeyes players were involved in the Wolverines’ postgame celebration. He called it “classless.”
“For such a great match you hate to see things like that after the match,” he said in an on-pitch interview with Fox Sports. “It’s just bad for the sport, bad for college football. But at the end of the day, you know some people gotta learn how to lose, man. … We had 60 minutes, we had four quarters, to do all that fighting.
This loss was perhaps the toughest of those four for Ohio State, as the Wolverines were unranked and coming off a disappointing season. The Buckeyes would win, but records rarely mean much when these two teams meet.
Ohio State needs No. 4 Penn State and No. 10 Indiana to lose later Saturday to get into the Big Ten title game next week.
The Buckeyes were off all afternoon. Howard was 19 for 33 for 175 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and Jayden Fielding missed two field goal attempts. The running game was hardly there.
Mullings was Michigan’s main weapon. He rushed for 116 yards and the Wolverines’ only touchdown of the game in the first half as neither team could get much going offensively in the frigid afternoon.
Howard was clumsy all day. In the first half, he threw an interception deep in his own territory that led to Michigan’s touchdown.
After the game, Michigan players attempted to plant their flag at midfield and were confronted by Ohio State players. A skirmish ensued with both teams pushing and shoving before being separated.