Ohio State fans threw trash onto the field during Saturday’s college football game against Nebraska. Neither the university nor the perpetrators will be punished, the Big Ten announced.
The conference actually offered praise for how the Buckeyes handled the unfortunate situation and in doing so, it set a concerning precedent for future incidents.
This dialogue about fan behavior actually began at Texas earlier this month. Longhorns fans threw trash onto the field during their game against the Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 19. With the game paused for cleanup efforts, the officiating crew had time to look into a massive pass interference penalty. Upon further review, the pass interference call was overturned.
If fans did not throw trash onto the field, the play wouldn’t have been reviewed. The sequence of events essentially encouraged disgruntled fans to disrupt play if they want to get a call overturned.
Ohio State took note of how things played out in Austin and deployed a similar strategy on Saturday.
Buckeyes linebacker Arvel Reese was ejected for targeting late in a 21-17 win over the Cornhuskers. However, video replay made it clear that Reese’s hit did not check any of the boxes for targeting.
Fans saw the replay and immediately threw all kinds of different objects onto the field, including cheese. They wanted the Big Ten officiating crew to review the penalty during the stoppage of play like the SEC crew a week prior. It worked in Texas, why not try it out in Ohio?
Despite their best efforts to force a review, the fans were unsuccessful.
Ohio State won’t be punished!
The delay in Austin was much longer than the one in Columbus. The carnage in Austin was also much greater than the one in Columbus.
With that being said, at their core, both incidents were the same.
And yet, only Texas was punished. The SEC fined the Longhorns $250,000, demanded they suspend fans who threw the debris, and threatened to revoke alcohol sales.
Ohio State will not be fined. It did not even receive so much as a slap on the wrist.
The Big Ten actually praised the Buckeyes for how they handled the incident.
All Big Ten institutions are expected to adhere to the policies and procedures within the Big Ten Football Game Management Manual. The security and protection of student-athletes, officials, coaches and staff is of utmost importance. The conference is confident that Ohio State staff properly handled the situation on Saturday and will have no additional comment.
— Big Ten Conference statement
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule revealed the precautionary measures required of his team during a press conference after the game.
They told us to come to the middle of the field because they were throwing bottles. But trust me, I’m from Philly. I’m all for all that. That doesn’t bother me. I just got the guys to the middle and said, “Let’s go.”
— Matt Rhule
Nothing more will come of the unruly behavior. All involved parties get to proceed as if it never happened.
The lack of punishment extends an already concerning precedent.
Texas fans successfully overturned a bad call by throwing trash. Ohio State fans saw it work. They tried a similar strategy and won’t be punished for their actions because the school did a good job cleaning it up.
Why would other Big Ten fanbases not throw trash onto the field the next time they disagree with a blatantly incorrect call? Why would the Buckeyes not try again? Nothing will happen!