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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller has been in contact with the Big Ten about the fight between Spartans players and Michigan Wolverines players at the end of their game Saturday night.
Following Michigan’s final kneel-down of a 24-17 win, Michigan State defensive lineman Anthony Jones and Michigan tight end Colston Loveland engaged in a scuffle, bringing both teams to the middle of the field as the clock expired. Video appeared to show Michigan running back Kalel Mullings and other Wolverines engaged with Michigan State personnel who were on the turf.
“I haven’t thoroughly looked at every angle and all of that,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said Monday. “It was a lot of bodies out there. … Yes, we had a staff member that was in the fray of it and a player that was in the fray of it, and that’s what we’re hoping [the Big Ten] is looking into.”
Michigan coach Sherrone Moore on Monday called the postgame skirmish “unacceptable.” He said any potential discipline will be handled internally, adding, “That’s not how we represent the University of Michigan, the block M or the winged helmet. So we’ll take care of that. That will never happen again.”
Asked specifically whether he saw Mullings kicking or stomping on someone from Michigan State, Moore said, “No. We’ll handle it.”
The incident occurred two years after the Michigan Stadium tunnel fight between Michigan State and Michigan players that resulted in criminal charges for seven MSU players, including felony assault for one. The Big Ten fined Michigan State $100,000 and issued an eight-game suspension on top of MSU’s discipline for one Spartans player.
Smith was not coaching MSU in 2022 but said of his first road experience in the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry, “There’s a genuine dislike. You could feel that from the get-go of pregame, from the crowd to the place and then sharing the tunnel, so that’s unique in a rivalry.”
The Big Ten didn’t immediately respond to ESPN’s request for comment on the incident.