Police are investigating an incident inside the Michigan Stadium tunnel after Michigan State football players surrounded a University of Michigan player and fought him after their team’s loss on Saturday.
Video — shot by The Detroit News’ Matt Charboneau — shows several Michigan State Spartans players kicking and hurling punches at Michigan Wolverines defensive back Ja’Den McBurrows before he’s eventually tossed to the ground in the tunnel.
The fight occurred after the Wolverines beat the Spartans 29-7 and comes in the same tunnel where the Michigan team had a heated exchange with the Penn State Nittany Lions football team — whose football coach called the tunnel a “problem” — earlier this month, The Detroit News reported.
The newspaper reported that in Saturday’s tunnel fight Michigan State players Zion Young and Angelo Grose appeared to be hurling punches at McBurrows.
Melissa Overton, University of Michigan deputy chief of police, said in a statement that her university’s police department along with Michigan State police are reviewing and investigating what happened in the tunnel on Saturday.
“Situations like these, and the safety of our community, are taken very seriously,” Overton said.
University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said two of his team’s players were “assaulted” by Michigan State players and referred to the fight as a “10 on one” situation.
He added that one of the players — whom he did not name — has a nasal injury that could be a broken nose.
Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel called the altercation unacceptable and said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren will open an investigation into the fight.
Michigan State coach Mel Tucker, who appeared to swing at a fan after they reached toward the team, said he didn’t know what happened and referred to the situation as a “heated” one.
Several Wolverines and Spartans declined to comment on the altercation following the game, The Detroit News reported.
However, some Michigan players, including Roman Wilson and Darrius Clemons, appeared to reference the fight on Twitter.