College football rivalry week was turned up a notch this year thanks to an outbreak of attempted flag plantings. It’s not exactly a new trend, as former Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield can attest to. He may have been one of the first that people remember doing the act when he did so at Ohio State in 2017.
That’s exactly what Michigan players attempted to do on Saturday at the 50-yard line following their upset win over their hated rivals before a brawl broke out. That wasn’t the only instance in which rivalry games saw the victors planting a flag after the final whistle.
Florida also attempted to place a Gators flag at Florida State in their rivalry game. In addition, NC State planted a flag at midfield after a win against North Carolina, while an Arizona State player placed a pitchfork at the 50-yard line against Arizona. Brief skirmishes ensued in those situations, but none were as hostile as the Michigan/Ohio State game.
Mayfield, the current Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB, weighed in on all the flag planting that occurred in the collegiate ranks over the weekend.
“OU-Texas does it every time they play,” Mayfield said. “It’s not anything special. You take your [loss] and you move on. I’ll leave it at that.
“College football is meant to have rivalries. That’s like the Big 12 banning the ‘Horns Down’ signal. Just let the boys play.”
Michigan and Ohio State ended up being fined $100,000 apiece by the Big Ten due to their roles in the brawl that followed the flag planting. Several players began pushing and shoving after Michigan’s 13-10 win, and police even had to intervene.
The 2017 season was a massive one for Mayfield, who led Oklahoma to a 31-16 win against Ohio State. In that very same campaign, Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy and was ultimately selected with the top pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
