Several players were involved in a post-match altercation in the dressing room tunnel after number 4 from michigan 29-7 win state of michigan. Video captured by the Detroit News showed one of two alleged incidents between the teams, with an unidentified Michigan player being shoved and punched by Michigan State players as they left the field.
“Two of our players were assaulted,” Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh said. told reporters. “I’ve seen the only video, it’s 10 to 1. Pretty bad. I’ll let our sporting director, Warde Manuel, talk to the authorities about it.”
Manuel was seen after the game speaking with Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren as well as local authorities.
“What happened after the game was completely unacceptable,” Manuel said. “I’ve spoken to the commissioner and he’s looking into the matter. The police are also looking into the matter. We’ll leave it in their hands, but that’s not how we should interact after the game. That’s not how. another team should grab a player and do what they did. This is completely and utterly unacceptable. We’ll let the Big Ten and law enforcement deal with it, but that’s not what a rivalry should be. That’s not how it should be remembered.
Harbaugh said a player suffered a nose injury from the altercation, but did not name anyone involved. Michigan State coach Mel Tucker wasn’t sure what exactly happened after the game. “I know it was a heated game,” Tucker said. “Things got heated. We’re trying to get our guys into the locker room. We’re going to have to figure out what happened.”
This is Michigan’s second showdown in as many games. At halftime of a 41-17 victory Penn Stateplayers from both teams had a heated exchange, which led to a lengthy media feud between Harbaugh and Penn State coach James Franklin.
“All you have to do is walk into their locker room,” Harbaugh told reporters In Monday. “Like, you saw pretty clearly that they completely shut down. They weren’t letting us go up the tunnel. And it just seemed like a sophomore ploy to keep us out of the locker room.”
Michigan Stadium, which was opened in 1927, has only one exit from the field to both locker rooms. Typically, the visiting team goes up the tunnel first, followed by Michigan. During Saturday’s fight, the unidentified Michigan player appeared to be in the tunnel while the rest of his teammates were still celebrating on the court.
“There really should be a policy that the first team that comes in, there’s a buffer,” Franklin said after the initial altercation. “If it doesn’t, this team starts talking to this team, they start talking back and forth, and something bad is going to happen.
