Extracurriculars again after Michigan beats MSU … again
Michigan won its third straight over Michigan State, a 24-17 win that wasn’t pretty, but didn’t have to be. The Wolverines did just enough offensively and made the stops needed defensively to get to victory formation.
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But MSU wasn’t going to go quietly. On the last snap, Spartans defensive lineman Anthony Jones came at Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and engaged aggressively before apparently smacking him across the helmet with his right hand. The two traded shoves, Loveland appeared to thrust his helmet into Jones’ face, and Jones grabbed him by the helmet and pushed Loveland’s helmet down before the Michigan bench emptied.
The two teams exchanged shoves near midfield before they were separated and headed to their respective locker rooms.
“Lil’ bro stay doing lil’ bro things,” Loveland said on the field in the postgame. “MSU, the little bro … they can do whatever they want. We knew it was going to get chippy, but everything within the confines of the game we do right. Then after it, if they want to get busy, we’ll get busy.”
But Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore was having none of it.
“I told the team it was unacceptable, regardless what happened and how it started,” Moore said. “There’s guys chirping at us, and us responding. A guy head butted Colston at the end. Our job is to represent this university … to not respond to that. To let the refs handle that.
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“It’s something we’ll handle internally and make sure we take care of, but that’s not Michigan football. That’s not who we are.”
It is, however, who Michigan State has been recently. The Spartans, of course, had several players suspended and arrested in the Michigan Stadium tunnel a few years ago after they assaulted defensive backs Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green. Fortunately, this one didn’t escalate like that.
“You don’t love finishing kind of that way,” Smith said.
Loveland cooled down a bit in the postgame, insistent it was no big deal.
“You know how it is. Just the rivalry, a lot of talking, shoving. We respect them,” he fibbed. “Just kind of heat of the moment stuff.
“I’m super glad we got the win, and on to the next one.”
Michigan will face No. 1 Oregon next week in Ann Arbor.
