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Ohio State Will Not Comment On Lincoln Riley Altercation While New Video Confirms Athletic Director Was At Fault

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Lincoln Riley yell Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork altercation statement video evidence
iStockphoto / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ohio State is choosing not to clarify the heated altercation between athletic director Ross Bjork and USC head coach Lincoln Riley after the college football game in Los Angeles on Saturday. The Buckeyes have ignored my request for comment.

As of this writing, neither program has released a statement about what happened.

Meanwhile, a third video of the incident has emerged. This latest angle confirms the college football coach was not the instigator.

Ohio State will not comment on the incident with Lincoln Riley.

USC was a 6.5-point underdog against Ohio State at home on Saturday. The Trojans defeated the Buckeyes by a final score of 30-18. Fans stormed onto the field to celebrate the upset win. It was an incredible scene on a rainy Halloween night.

Unfortunately, the field storm got a little bit out of hand.

First, Ohio State defensive tackle John Walker appeared to spit on a USC fan who yelled in his face from the stands. Then, Lincoln Riley yelled at an opposing staffer as he and his family tried to exit the field through the team tunnel.

The opposing staffer just so happened to be athletic director Ross Bjork. He accosted the head coach and his family as he walked by. To “accost” means to “approach and speak to someone,” often in a “bold, aggressive, or unwanted manner.”

In the first two videos of the incident, it appeared as though Riley and his family were trying to get back to the tunnel while the Buckeyes staff worked to get their players off of the field. He was a little bit pushy at first until he understood what was happening. 6-foot-3, 304-pound defensive lineman Eddrick Houston needed assistance due to an injury and was moving slow. Maurice Clarrett and another member of the staff thanked Riley for waiting and apologized for the delay, which Riley accepted.

And then Bjork walked by. The athletic director turned toward Riley and his family, pointed a finger at them, and said something in passing that did not go over well with the head coach or his wife. Riley’s wife told Bjork to “watch his mouth.” Riley said, “F— you!” and appeared to call Bjork a “P—-” before Clarrett stepped back in to keep the peace.

If you look closely at the other staffer next to Clarett (wearing the white hat), he appears to say “No… Ross! No, no!” as he ushers Bjork past the Riley family. Even he did not appreciate the behavior of his athletic director.

All of this likely could’ve been avoided if the stadium personnel had a better plan to clear the field but what happened happened. We just don’t know what Bjork said to trigger Mr. and Mrs. Riley’s reaction or how exactly it all went down.

I reached out to Ohio State for comment on Monday morning. As of this writing, I have yet to hear back. It seems like the Buckeyes are choosing to ignore the incident. They are choosing not to provide additional clarity or their side of the story.

USC has also remained silent thus far. The Trojans have not released a statement.

A third video confirms Ross Bjork was the instigator.

Not too long after I reached out to Ohio State with a request for comment, a third video of the incident was posted on social media. The newest video very clearly shows that Ross Bjork said something to Lincoln Riley and his family as he passed them by.

Although it was a chaotic scene from the beginning, it did not turn hostile until Bjork chirped at the Rileys. Take a look:

The optics of the altercation are not great. Bjork, coming off of an upset loss that resulted in a field storm, could not keep his mouth shut. Clarett and the other Ohio State staffers had the situation under control. The athletic director ran his mouth.

It would be one thing if this was a one-off occurrence. However, when you do something more than once, you no longer get the benefit of the doubt and Bjork has something of a history with altercation.

The Egg Bowl devolved into a bench-clearing brawl in 2018.

Bjork served as the athletic director at Ole Miss at the time. According to legendary Mississippi-based sports columnist Rick Cleveland, he exchanged words with Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen after the game.

Bulldogs head coach Joe Moorhead took issue with whatever it was that Bork had to say and tried to confront him. The former referred to the latter as “their big mouth f—— AD.”

Neither Lincoln Riley nor Ross Bjork acted appropriately after USC defeated Ohio State on Saturday and neither school has issued a statement of apology and/or clarification as of Tuesday morning. However, all of the evidence proves that Bjork was the instigator in Los Angeles and a similar incident at Ole Miss in 2018 creates a pattern of behavior.