Maybe that’s how contagious violence is! Until now, it was the enraged fans who created havoc on the gridiron. Now it seems like the players too are falling into the trend. While the fans did not hurt each other, ugly scenes came up during the face-off against Sherrone Moore’s Michigan Wolverines and Jonathan Smith’s Michigan State on October 26. Sadly, the players couldn’t wait to reach the locker room and got into action right on the gridiron.

Seems like this is not the first time that the two programs locked horns! Wondering when? Hint: It happened in that year when the Wolverines won 13 games for the first time!

Tensions boil over as Sherrone Moore’s Wolverines seal the win

By now, both the program’s fans’ nails might be gone! Yes, so much has been the suspense. The in-state rivalry dates back to 1898. As you might know, it’s the Wolverines who hold the all-time series record at 73-38-5. The last time Michigan State defeated the Wolverines was back in 2021 when Moore was not around and was headed by Jim Harbaugh. Saturday marked the first time since 1928 that both of them entered the game with at least three losses. But the State player Anthony Jones lashed out and what followed was an absolute frenzy. 

With under 30 seconds for the clock to go off, the Wolverines QB Davis Warren took a knee. And BOOM! Jonathan’s defensive lineman Anthony Jones went head-to-head with Michigan’s tight end Colston Loveland. They kept on pushing each other. Till then it was okay. But their respective teams had to run to the field to help their member out as all of them huddled together in the ugly fight. And what was HC Moore’s take on the Wolverines and Spartans square-off?  

Sherrone Moore’s post-scuffle message for the team

As it was a close game that was ultimately decided by one touchdown, Moore too was aware of the neck-to-neck fight. So who did the HC support in this? Well, it’s safe to say that the HC rather took a middle path now that finally his QB drama is over. On the post-game scuffle, the debut HC commented, “I told the team it’s unacceptable, regardless of what happened and how it started. There’s guys chirping at us and us responding.” 

He later added, “Our job is to represent these universities, not to respond to that, is to let the refs handle that. So something that we’ll handle internally and make sure we take care of. But that’s not Michigan football. That’s not who we are.” Even though Moore is in charge of the Wolverines for the first time, even then he might be aware of the famous instate clash.

We will have to go two years back to 2022 when emotions boiled over. The Wolverines took over the Spartans 29-7, but no one was interested in the score. The MSU players started hitting, kicking, dragging, and swinging a helmet at Wolverines in the tunnel of the big house. Interestingly, in his very first season, Sherrone Moore too got tagged for another ugly fight in the instate rivalry history.