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Michigan HC says team will do away with controversial celebration
Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore speaks to the media during the Big Ten Media Days at Mandalay Bay Resort. Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Sherrone Moore says Michigan will do away with controversial celebration

Michigan and Ohio State are sure to play another spirited game on the gridiron this season, but it sounds like there will be no flag planting afterward regardless of the outcome.

Michigan won its fourth straight game against Ohio State last season, and the Wolverines' latest victory was the biggest upset the rivalry has seen in years. The eventual national champion Buckeyes were ranked No. 2 in the country when an unranked Michigan team went into Columbus and beat them, 13-10.

A huge scrum broke out after the game when Michigan players stood on Ohio State's midfield logo and pretended to plant their flag in enemy territory. The brawl got so out of hand that stadium police wound up using pepper spray.

While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said his players will not be partaking in any flag-planting activity going forward.

"There will be no more flag planting. There will be no more grabbing the flag," Moore said. "We talked about our new tradition and what we do when we win a game is go beat the band, go sing our (fight song) and stay over there until the other team departs. That's how we'll operate — shake hands after the game, show sportsmanship, be cordial."

While there has been no formal ban of flag planting, Ohio State coach Ryan Day also expressed opposition to the act after last year's incident.

Ohio State and Michigan have one of the best rivalries in sports, so there is always going to be bad blood between the two programs. Moore and Day are doing what they can to make sure things don't get out of hand again the next time their teams meet.

Steve DelVecchio

Steve is a veteran writer who has covered a variety of sports and pop culture topics for more than 15 years. In addition to Yardbarker, his work has been featured on prominent digital publications including Larry Brown Sports, MSN and FOX Sports. The UConn graduate has published more than 40,000 stories and is one of the most experienced trending news writers in the country

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