OSU revelers set fires, tear down goal post

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio State football fans took to the streets after their team’s championship victory early Tuesday, yelling and screaming in delight, setting nearly 90 fires and tearing down an Ohio Stadium goal post.

Police made a handful of arrests after using tear gas and pepper spray to disperse crowds of Ohio State University students and other fans after the Buckeyes’ win.

Officers on foot, on horses and in cruisers patrolled the main drag through campus after midnight, when revelers spilled out of bars to celebrate the football team’s 42-20 win over the University of Oregon in Dallas.

Thousands of fans chanting “Let us in!” converged on the Ohio State football stadium, where police used tear gas to turn them away. Most headed back to the bar area, where cruisers lined the street and officers limited pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Fans tore down a temporary goal post used for high school games on the south end of the Ohio Stadium field, university spokesman Dan Hedman said.

The 89 fires reported to the Columbus Fire Department involved trash bins, Dumpsters and couches. The fire department said it responded to three reports of people with injuries in the campus area.

Some police officers used pepper spray to clear an estimated 5,000 revelers from the streets, while canisters of tear gas also were deployed.