Michigan's win over Michigan State Saturday night was marred by an ugly postgame incident in which several Spartans were seen roughing up a Michigan player in the tunnel to the locker rooms at the Big House.
"Two of our players were assaulted," Jim Harbaugh said after No. 4 Michigan's 29-7 win. "I saw the one video, the 10 on 1, pretty bad. I’m going to let our athletic director Warde Manuel address it with the authorities. ... Looks pretty open and shut. One of our players has a nasal injury, could be a broken nose. Just very unfortunate."
In one video circulating on social media, a Michigan player who appears to be sophomore Ja'Den McBurrows is mobbed and dragged to the ground by a group of helmeted Michigan State players, apparently outside the Spartans locker room. McBurrows, who was helmet-less, takes a punch from Michigan State freshman Zion Young and is eventually thrown into the hallway, where he gets to his feet and makes his way up the tunnel.
Manuel wouldn't disclose the identities of the Michigan players involved, but took to the postgame podium and said he had been in communication with local law enforcement as well as Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, who was in attendance for the game.
"I have talked to the commissioner, he is looking into it. The police are also looking into it, because they’ve seen the video," said Manuel. "We will leave it in their hands, but this is not how we should interact after a game."
Manuel called it "completely and utterly unacceptable" for another team to "grab a player and do what they did."
"This is not what a rivalry should be about. This is not how it should be remembered. We won on the field," said Manuel, sitting next to Harbaugh. "This man and his team and those players went out there and won. For that to happen is unacceptable. I’ll leave it to Kevin and law enforcement to handle from here on out."
The identity of the second Michigan player who was allegedly assaulted isn't yet known. At the time of the incident on video, the rest of the Wolverines were on the field celebrating their win. It's not clear what brought the first player in question up the tunnel without them. Harbaugh said he "heard from the two players when we got into the locker room and started addressing it, and then the video surfaced."
"It needs to be investigated and brought to a conclusion, and our athletic director will make sure that takes place," Harbaugh said.
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker said he hadn't seen the video and didn't know what had happened when he met with the media after the game.
The deputy chief of University of Michigan police confirmed that there will be an investigation.
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