There’s at least one lawmaker in Ohio that’s a little salty about the unranked University of Michigan whooping number two Ohio State University in football for the fourth year in a row.
State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp., introduced his O.H.I.O Sportsmanship Act on Tuesday to make it a felony to plant a flag in the center of Ohio Stadium, as Wolverine players did on Nov. 30 to celebrate their 13-10 victory over the Buckeyes.
The incident immediately sparked a fight with the sore losers, resulting in the Big Ten fining both teams $100,000 each for their roles in the melee.
Here’s my video from the post game flag plant / brawl after Michigan’s 13-10 win against Ohio Sate. pic.twitter.com/bs9BsiwgTw
— Josh Newkirk (@JoshNewkirk7) December 1, 2024
House Bill 700 would ban “planting a flagpole and flag in the center of the Ohio Stadium football field on the day of a college football game,” The Columbus Dispatch reports.
The legislation would make violations a fifth-degree felony, punishable by up to a year in prison and fine of up to $2,500.
Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, told the news site HB 700 is unlikely to pass in the final two weeks of the General Assembly’s two-year session, and would need to be reintroduced if not.
“Well, it’s not going to have time to be passed, you know, this late in the game,” he said.
Ohio State’s loss to Michigan in the regular season finale – the first time an unraked Michigan team beat a ranked Ohio State since 1993 – marked the Wolverines’ four straight win over the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s loss knocked the team down a few pegs, dropping from its second-place ranking to number six. The Buckeyes seeded eighth in the first round of the College Football Playoffs, playing number nine seeded Tennessee on Dec. 21. The winner will go on to face number one ranked Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, according to Bleacher Report.
UM, which is now 7-5, will end its season in the ReliaQuest Bowl against 11th ranked Alabama, which has a record of 9-3.
Williams, sponsor of HB 700, could not be reached for comment by The Detroit News or Columbus Dispatch.
“The UM-Ohio State incident was one of several flag-planting attempts in college football that weekend, the last of the regular season, which often is reserved for rivalry games. Flag-planting also was attempted after N.C. State’s 35-30 victory over North Carolina, and after Florida’s 31-11 win over Florida State,” The News reports.
“Williams is a Toledo College of Law graduate who teaches at Adrian College in Michigan. A Republican, he was elected to office in 2022, and he joined the Ohio House of Representatives in January 2023.”
Michigan football was on the receiving end of the flag planting trend on two occasions in 2024, though those incidents did not spark the same reaction in The Big House.
“Both Texas and Oregon took their turns celebrating in Ann Arbor and no one said a word,” Wolverines Wires reports. “No punches were thrown, no words were exchanged.”
The site also offered a suggestion for disgruntled Ohio State fans that doesn’t involve outlawing victory celebrations: “If you don’t want an opposing team to plant a flag, you have an excellent recourse that is not even remotely litigious: beat them on the field.”
