Police in riot gear used tear gas to break up crowds in Columbus, Ohio, early Tuesday after Ohio State beat Oregon to win the college football championship.
At least a dozen small fires were reported after thousands of people poured out of bars to celebrate, authorities said. Denise Alex-Bouzounis, a Columbus police spokeswoman, said that a handful of arrests were made.
As many as 8,000 people converged on the Ohio State football stadium, known as the Horseshoe, and several hundred forced their way inside, the school said. The crowd tore down a goalpost. The championship game was played outside Dallas.
Police deployed three canisters of tear gas in front of the Ohio Union at about 1:15 a.m. local time and emptied the area, The Columbus Dispatch reported. It said officers also used pepper spray shortly after midnight, with some people leaving the area “with stinging eyes and runny noses.”
A police dispatcher told NBC News that officers were called to reports of trash-bin and couch fires in the streets around the Ohio State campus.
The Buckeyes won the game 42-20 as Ezekiel Elliott had 246 yards on 36 carries and scored four touchdowns.
Alastair Jamieson
Shamar Walters