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Don’t be fooled: the Michigan Wolverines vs. Michigan State Spartans football rivalry might not be the sexiest rivalry game in college football, but it’s still fierce. We got a reminder of that last night in Ann Arbor.

Both teams showed up at the Big House with a 4-3 record, eager to win the “The Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.” What the teams lacked in star power this season (both teams were well outside the Top 25), they made up for in intensity throughout the game.

Michigan State led 7-0, but Michigan rushed back to take a 24-10 lead as the game progressed. Wolverines tight end Colston Loveland shone bright for Michigan, tallying six catches for 67 yards, two touchdowns, and a two-point reception.

Towards the end of the game, the Spartans climbed back to get within a touchdown, and even took the ball down to the Michigan 16. But the Michigan defense stood tall, forcing a turnover on downs.

With the amount of time left on the clock, Michigan quarterback Davis Warren was able to kneel a few times and run down the clock. However, things got chippy at the end.

Loveland and Spartans defensive end Anthony Jones got into a fight at the end of the game, which included headbutts, punches thrown by both and the sidelines getting involved towards the end.

I’ll let you be the judge on who is to blame. To me, it looks like Jones got a punch in on Loveland first, but I am a Michigan fan, so I’m a bit biased.

However, Loveland seemed pretty convinced of who was to blame for that whole event.

“Lil bro stay doing little bro things,” Loveland said. “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.”

While Loveland seemed to brush off the incident, both head coaches said they were not pleased with what happened.

“I told the team that was unacceptable,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said.

“You don’t love finishing kind of that way,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said.

The win was Michigan’s third straight in the rivalry, and the second one to involve a fight after the game. In 2022, the two teams fought in the tunnel that led to the locker rooms, which led to security protocol changes.