USATSI
Ohio State coach Ryan Day and Rutgers coach Greg Schiano wound up in a verbal altercation after a scrum broke out between their teams during the fourth quarter of the No. 3 Buckeyes’ 49-10 win over the Scarlet Knights on Saturday. The fracas came after Ohio State successfully executed an apparent fake punt while leading by 39 points with less than 10 minutes in the game. Day said after the game, however, that punter Jesse Mirco merely took matters into his own hands with daylight in front.
After Mirco ran out of bounds, Rutgers receiver Aron Cruickshank leveled him on the Buckeyes sideline and was flagged for a late hit. Players on the Ohio State sideline quickly leapt to their punter’s defense as the officiating crew raced in to break up a bout of pushing and shoving between the teams.
Several seconds into the encounter, Schiano came running across from the opposite sideline. But instead of escorting his players back across the field, he wound up as part of the altercation as Schiano and Day began pointing at each other and yelling while officials had to step in to keep them apart.
The dustup was particularly surprising because of their shared history. Schiano served a three-year stint as defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes, and was on staff with Day for two of those seasons. Previously, Day had lavished Schiano with praise for the work he did amid the coaching transition from Urban Meyer late in the 2018 season.
Day and Schiano appeared to make amends after the game. Footage from their postgame handshake captured Day apologizing for something, presumably the fake punt. It was not immediately clear if Schiano also apologized for his player’s late hit and for running across the field and inflaming the altercation between the teams.
“I wanted to make sure I stopped our team from coming across the field, and I wanted to make sure that our player got out of there,” said Schiano. “But we are both very competitive guys. I have the utmost respect for him. We’re good friends.”
Day said there were “no hard feelings at all” with Schiano, adding “I have unbelievable respect for him.”
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