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Mel Tucker initially pleads ignorance on tunnel incident, says Michigan 'played better football' - follows up with statement

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•10/30/22•

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Michigan State coach Mel Tucker
Michigan State coach Mel Tucker and his team are under the microscope after a loss to Michigan. (Getty Images)

Lost in the postgame embarrassment in which Michigan State players appeared to assault two Michigan players in the tunnel was the beating the Wolverines gave the Spartans on the field. MSU hung for a while, even took a lead, and was only down 13-7 at halftime, but the Wolverines dominated in the trenches and finally pulled away despite their red zone difficulties.

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They had to settle for 5 field goals, in fact. But at the end of the night, the 29-7 bludgeoning was overshadowed by the beating several MSU players put on cornerbacks Gemon Green and Ja’Den McBurrows while he ran through the tunnel toward the locker room.

“I don’t know,” Michigan State coach Mel Tucker said. “I know that was a heated game. Things were heated. We’re trying to get our guys in the locker room. We’ll have to figure out what happened.”

Apparently, they did. Tucker issued a statement on twitter in the morning, probably after seeing his players’ actions on video. Several media members witnessed it and took video.

“As Spartans our program has a responsibility to uphold the highest level of sportsmanship. While emotions were very high at the conclusion of our rivalry game at Michigan Stadium, there is no excuse for behavior that puts our team or our opponents at risk,” Tucker said Sunday morning via twitter.

“In complete cooperation with law enforcement, the Big Ten Conference and MSU and UM leadership, we will evaluate the events in Ann Arbor and take swift and appropriate action.”

Some believe suspensions, dismissals, and arrests will be the result.

As for the game — Tucker didn’t have much to say about the Wolverines.

“I said, ‘Hey, just give them credit. They beat us today,’” Tucker said. “They played better football than us today, and we didn’t get it done. So … give them credit, and let’s get ready to move on to the next one.”

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was happy with the win, but the incident dampened the postgame celebration. One locker room observer said the Michigan players were distraught when hearing the news, but the coaches did a great job of deescalating the situation.

“Two of our players were assaulted,” Michigan head coach Harbaugh confirmed in his postgame press conference. “I saw the one video, the 10 on 1. Pretty bad. I’m going to let our Athletic Director, Warde Manuel, address it with the authorities …

“Pretty open and shut. One of our players has a nasal injury — could be a broken nose. Just very unfortunate.”

More than that, it might well be criminal. 

“I’ll let Warde address that. My perspective is I heard from two players when we got into the locker room … we started addressing it,” Harbaugh said. “Then the video surfaced.”

Manuel then came to the podium to address the media. 

“What happened after the game is completely unacceptable. I’ve talked to the [Big Ten] commissioner [Kevin Warren],” Manuel said. “He is looking into it. The police are also looking into it because they’ve seen the video, so they’re addressing it. 

“We will leave it in their hands. But this is not how we should interact after the game. This is not the way another team should grab a player and do what they did. It’s completely and utterly unacceptable. We will let the Big Ten and law enforcement handle it, but this is not what a rivalry should be about. It’s not how it should be remembered.”

Michigan, 8-0, will play Rutgers Saturday night. Michigan State, now 3-5, travels to Illinois.

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