ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and Michigan State defensive end Anthony Jones pushed, shoved and butted helmets, triggering a skirmish with the rivals throwing punches as the final seconds ticked off the clock Saturday night.
“It was heat-of-the-moment type stuff,” Loveland said at a postgame news conference after the Wolverines won 24-17.
Loveland might have cooled down at his news conference on the Big Ten Network.
“Lil bro stay doing little bro things,” Loveland told BTN on the field. “So, MSU is the little bro. They can do whatever they want. We knew it was going to get chippy. Everything within the confines of the game, we do right. And then after if they want to get busy, we’ll get busy.”
Quarterback Davis Warren took a knee to let the remaining time run out as Loveland and Jones got tangled up.
Michigan players left the nearby sideline to join the scrum and Michigan State players rushed over to join as well.
“I told the team that was unacceptable,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said.
Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith also was disappointed.
“You don’t love finishing kind of that way,” Smith said.
The last time the teams met at the Big House two years ago, a melee broke out in the tunnel with Spartans hitting, kicking and using a helmet to strike Michigan players.
Seven Michigan State players were later charged with crimes and the Big Ten fined the school $100,000. Michigan was reprimanded for failing to provide adequate protection for personnel of both home and visiting teams when entering and leaving the venue.