Michigan State football fined $100,000 by Big Ten for tunnel fight; Michigan reprimanded

Michigan State football will receive the largest fine in Big Ten history for the incident in the Michigan Stadium tunnel Oct. 29.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren levied a $100,000 fine against MSU for a fight that involved eight Spartans and two Wolverines following U-M’s 29-7 victory. That surpasses the $40,000 fine issued to Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard for hitting a Wisconsin assistant coach in February.

“The Big Ten Conference has a standard of excellence both academically and athletically that has been built over 127 years,” Warren said in a statement. “Our standards require that our student-athletes, coaches and staff members represent the conference, and their member institutions, with the highest level of decorum and sportsmanship. We are taking disciplinary action and will continue to work with our member institutions to strengthen their gameday procedures and ensure our honored traditions.”

Warren’s son, Powers, was a tight end for MSU the past two seasons. He did not travel with the Spartans to the game at U-M, and the sixth-year senior’s collegiate eligibility expires after this season.

U-M also was issued a public reprimand “with the protocol outlined in the Big Ten Conference Football Game Management Manual policy.” It previously had been privately reprimanded. There were incidents in the tunnel during Michigan's game against Ohio State last season and against Penn State this year.

“The conference has concluded that the University of Michigan did not meet the standards of the Big Ten Conference Football Game Management Manual policy,” the conference said in a statement. “The policy requires the conference member institution game host to provide adequate protection for personnel of both home and visiting teams when entering and leaving playing arenas.”

RAINER SABIN:Why we all share blame for Michigan State-Michigan football rivalry becoming so toxic

The Big Ten in its statement said it determined seven MSU players “participated in the hitting, kicking or using of their helmet to strike University of Michigan student-athletes.” The two Wolverines, who were not named by the conference, were Gemon Green and Ja’Den McBurrows.

The Big Ten statement added: “Members of both teams did not represent the level of sportsmanship that is expected from the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions.”

The league in its statement said it “deferred its initial findings and disciplinary action” until the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security completed its investigation. UMDPSS announced Nov. 12 it sent its findings to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office, which on Wednesday issued charges for seven of the eight MSU players coach Mel Tucker suspended in the aftermath of the incident.

Prosecutor Eli Savit issued one charge of felony assault against MSU redshirt sophomore defensive back Khary Crump, whom the Big Ten on Monday said will be suspended for the first eight games of the 2023 season.

Savit issued one count of misdemeanor aggravated assault against five other MSU players: Itayvion “Tank” Brown, Angelo Grose, Justin White, Brandon Wright and Zion Young. Savit handed one count of misdemeanor assault and battery to Jacoby Windmon. The Big Ten said those six players’ punishment “is sufficient and has been completed” after they missed the final four games of the regular season.

Tucker announced after the Big Ten punishment that Brown, Grose, White, Windmon, Wright and Young all have been reinstated. The conference in its statement said it will review additional evidence as it becomes available and take further action as needed.

CHRIS SOLARI:I was right in the middle of the Michigan-Michigan State scuffle. Here's what I saw.

“We accept the findings from the Big Ten Conference and are ready to move forward as a football program,” Tucker and athletic director Alan Haller said in a joint statement issued by MSU. “We are committed to supporting our student-athletes and will continue to do so throughout this process.”

The eighth player Tucker suspended, freshman Malcom Jones, was not charged in the incident and was reinstated to the program last week, the third-year coach said. The Big Ten said “it is inconclusive as to whether (Jones) actively participated in the physical altercation” and considers his four-game suspension sufficient and complete.

An unnamed Spartans football staff member also was cited for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy, and the Big Ten said MSU handled the situation sufficiently.

MSU interim president Teresa Woodruff raised a question in a statement released Monday afternoon after saying that "educational opportunities that can and should coexists with the findings at fault," are missing from the discipline from the conference.

"Are we doing enough, as leaders, to help further safety within our competitions through meaningful actions and education? Or are we risking the opportunities and livelihoods of young people without creating change for success in the future?" she asked in the statement.

It is the second incident in the past five meetings between MSU and U-M that required the conference to issue punishment. The Big Ten fined MSU $10,000 for an incident at Spartan Stadium on Oct. 20, 2018, involving former Michigan player Devin Bush during warmups.

A source with knowledge of the Big Ten’s current investigation said that 2018 punishment was issued directly by previous conference commissioner Jim Delany and did not follow the conference’s proper protocol for punishment.

The Big Ten in 2018 determined MSU violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy by walking across the field with linked arms “and initiated contact with multiple members of Michigan’s team who were legitimately on the field during pregame warmups,” according to a conference release.

Dantonio was reprimanded “for failing to take action to mitigate a foreseeable conflict from occurring.”

The league reprimanded Bush for his conduct, which included grinding his cleats repeatedly into the midfield logo and yelling at MSU players, and U-M coach Jim Harbaugh also received a reprimand for his comments made about the incident, Dantonio and the Spartans during news conferences after the game and in the following days.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.

Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Big Ten fines Michigan State $100K for tunnel fight; U-M reprimanded