Ohio State cops whip out pepper spray during Michigan flag-planting brawl

The Ohio State and Michigan rivalry is always heated. On Saturday, the heat was more peppery than usual.

After Michigan pulled off a shocking upset of the No. 2 Buckeyes, Wolverines players went to midfield and tried to plant their flag on the O. Ohio State players took offense and started a brawl.

Over the course of the brawl, punches were thrown, the Michigan flag was torn off it's pole and, according to Pat Forde on the field, pepper spray was deployed.

Video later confirmed it.

It sure looked like these players got a face full.

Of course, anyone in the vicinity got some of that, including, almost certainly, the guy who sprayed it in the first place. We get that the police needed to find a way to clear the field, but pepper spraying into a crowd of players, coaches and media shouldn't have been the answer.

The scenes as Michigan and Ohio State scuffled were ugly, even before the pepper spray.

Michigan and Ohio State brawl at midfield

There were a bunch of angles of the fight, from on the field to overhead.

Rivalry is great but players need to leave the fighting and aggression on the football field. This kind of thing can't happen in sports. It doesn't matter if you win or lose. It doesn't matter if you started it or just joined it.

It's easy to understand why the Ohio State players were pissed off. They've lost four rivalry games in a row, including two straight at home. Watching the rivals plant their flag on your logo has got to be the worst feeling. Throwing punches still isn't an acceptable response.

Actually, the best way to stop an opposing team from planting their flag is by beating them. The Buckeyes couldn't do that, falling 13-10 on their home field. Michigan kicked a go-ahead field goal with 45 seconds remaining to win.