From ATB

That is some serious hate.

"Ohio apologized to Ohio State today following the brawl between the schools' mascots Saturday before the teams' game in Columbus.

As Ohio State ran across the field before kickoff, the person dressed as Rufus, Ohio's mascot, attempted to tackle Brutus, Ohio State's mascot. Rufus missed in his first attempt, but followed Brutus into the end zone and the fight continued.

Jason Corriher, assistant athletic director for Media Relations, announced in a statement that the person involved in the stunt has been banned from any further affiliation with Ohio Athletics.

"The department does not condone this behavior and apologizes for the negative effects that this had on an intercollegiate event between two proud institutions," Corriher said in the statement. "This is not indicative of the quality partnership between the universities and reflected extremely poor judgment and sportsmanship."

Brandon Hanning, the person in the Rufus costume, said he was not upset with the aftermath.

"It was the whole reason I tried out (to be Rufus) last year," he said. "I knew we were going back to OSU this year, and I wanted to tackle Brutus."

Hanning, 19, is a student at Hocking College. He enrolled at OU last year but dropped out, he said. He added that he still hadn't been informed of his firing, but didn't care.

Ohio coach Frank Solich said he did not know much about the situation.

"A statement has been released and action has been taken," he said. "I'm sure it's the appropriate action. We obviously don't condone it.

"Obviously we needed to tackle the guy with the ball, not the mascot."