Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and Michigan State defensive end Anthony Jones pushed, shoved and butted helmets, triggering a skirmish with the college rivals throwing punches as the final seconds ticked off the clock on Saturday night.
“Lil’ bro stay doing little bro things,” Loveland told the Big Ten Network on the field immediately after Michigan’s 24-17 win. “So, MSU is the little bro. They can do whatever they want. We knew it was going to get chippy. Everything within the confines of the game, we do right. And then after if they want to get busy, we’ll get busy.”
Loveland appeared to have cooled down by the time he spoke at the team’s postgame press conference.
“It was heat-of-the-moment type stuff,” Loveland said of the incident.
“Lil bro stay doing lil bro things.” 👀😅
Colston Loveland chimes in on the exchange after the final whistle between Michigan and Michigan State ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/nUbXJIqCHT
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 27, 2024
The confrontations started after Michigan quarterback Davis Warren took a knee to let the remaining time run out as Loveland and Jones got tangled up. Michigan players left the nearby sideline to join the scrum and MSU players rushed over to join the fray.
“I told the team that was unacceptable,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said.
Michigan State’s coach Jonathan Smith said he was disappointed too. “You don’t love finishing kind of that way,” Smith said. “I thought, for the football game itself, it was physical, I think guys were playing really hard, and I thought it was a pretty clean game. It was tough to finish that way.”
The last time the teams met at the Big House two years ago, a melee broke out in the tunnel with Spartans hitting, kicking and using a helmet to hit Michigan players. Seven Michigan State players were later charged with crimes and the Big Ten fined the school $100,000. Michigan were reprimanded for failing to provide adequate protection for personnel of both home and visiting teams when entering and leaving the venue.