What Is it about Michigan that brings out the worst behavior in some Big Ten teams?
Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh felt the need to address that latest incident that occured when an altrecation between players at state rivals Michigan and Michigan State players following the Wolverines 29-7 victory at the Big House that wound up with video from the Detroit media that Michigan defensive back Ja’Den McBurrows being punched and kicked by a group of Spartan players in the tunnel leading the the locker rooms.
Harbaugh told the media that two Michigan players were “assaulted and that one has a nasal injury that couild be a broken nose.
McBurrows was on the ground in the middle of several Michigan State players. When he got to his feet, MSU linebacker Itayvion Brown grabbed him and tossed him through an open doorway at the end of the tunnel. A Michigan State police officer then is seen grabbing Brown’s jersey to hold him back. At least two other Michigan State players, safety Angelo Grose and defensive end Zion Young, were seen by a News reporter throwing punches at McBurrows.
Warde Manuel, Michigan’s AD, said he had been in contact wiht Big commissioner Kevin Warren as well as local authorities. Warren attended the game in Ann Arbor..
What happend afer the game was completely unacceptable,” Manuel said. “I talked to the commissioner. He’s looking into it. We have the police looking into it because they’ve seen the video.. This is not how we should interact after the game. There is no way another team should grab a player and do what they did. It’s completely unacceptable.”
He’s right of course
If this is true, there should be be no mercy and the Michigan State players involved should be expelled.
Along those lines, there has to be a better way for two teams to exit after a heated rivlary without making contact in the same tunnel. This is not the first time this season there have been an altercatiion in the Michigan tunnel. Earlier in the season, there was an incident at halftime with Penn State. After the game, Penn State coach James Franklin said he believed there needs to an adjusment in how the tunnel is used. “All there has tobe is a two-minute or minute buffer between the two teams,” he said. “The team is in before that team gets close and however we want to do it.”
Asked about Frankln’s comments, Harbaugh was dismissive and said that Penn State players weren’t letting the Michigan team get up the tunnel and into the locker room. “It just seemed like a sophomoric ploy to keep us out of our locker rooms,” he said. And Franklin was the ring leader of the whole thing.”
After the Michigan State game, Spartans’ coach Mel Tucker was asked about the incicdent and said he was unaware of what happened. “I know it was a heated game,” he said. “Things were heated. We’re trying to get guys to the locker roo. We’ll ahve to figrue out what happened.”
