The Wolverines coach and athletic director discussed the postgame incident between several Spartans and a single Michigan player.
Michigan’s victory over Michigan State was marred by a fight in the tunnel after the game, when multiple Spartans were caught on video fighting one Wolverines player. The Michigan player, who appears to be defensive back Ja’Den McBurrows, was the lone Michigan player in the tunnel when Michigan State players were heading to their locker room.
After the incident, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and athletic director Warde Manuel addressed the incident. First, Harbaugh gave the media his understanding of what transpired.
“Two of our players were assaulted. You saw the one video, the 10 on one. It was pretty bad,” Harbaugh said. “One of our players has a nasal injury, could be a broken nose. It’s just very unfortunate.”
Manuel explained that the university is allowing the University of Michigan Police Department and the Big Ten to handle the investigation, but he was clearly upset about what occurred.
“This is not how we should interact after a game,” Manuel said. “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.”
The fact that a single tunnel leads to both locker rooms in Michigan Stadium has been a topic of conversation for a few weeks now. Earlier this month, Penn State and Michigan got into a shouting match in that same tunnel, and Nittany Lions coach James Franklin called it a “problem.”
At the time, Harbaugh dismissed any issue with the tunnel itself, putting the blame on Penn State’s players for that particular incident.
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