EAST LANSING >> After a mostly clean game through 60 minutes, the final snap of Saturday’s football game between Michigan and Michigan State turned ugly when players got into a scuffle on the field. And Spartans athletic director Alan Haller isn’t happy with the scene.

First reported by Lansing State Journal and confirmed by The Detroit News, Haller called Big Ten officials shortly after the game, sharing his disappointment with the entire situation and calling on the conference to review the situation for disciplinary measures.

“I did call the commissioner immediately after the game” Haller said Monday. “I thought the sportsmanship policy should be implied, and I requested that the Big Ten look at this.”

Haller was not given a timeline for the Big Ten’s review. The News requested comment from the Big Ten, but has not received a response. A message left with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel also hasn’t been immediately returned.

Saturday’s brawl was the latest installment in what has turned into a violent recent history of the rivalry. After losing to the Wolverines in 2022, a group of Spartans players were involved in a fight inside the tunnel of Michigan Stadium, attacking two Michigan players. Seven of the players saw charges filed against them by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s office, eight received some type of suspension by Michigan State athletics, and the school itself received a $100,000 fine by the Big Ten — the largest fine in conference history.

But Haller doesn’t think Saturday’s incident should rise to criminal charges. All he wants is for the conference to enforce its disciplinary rules.

“I don’t think that situation should have been a criminal incident, and I don’t think this should be as well,” Haller said. “This is a sportsmanship policy situation, and the conference will look at it. And it’s my wish that the same standard that everyone’s held to, that they be held to the same standard. But I do not believe that incident, nor this incident, is a criminal situation.”

Saturday night’s skirmish began after pushing and shoving between Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and Michigan State defensive lineman Anthony Jones escalated, with Loveland headbutting Jones as the two came together following the Wolverines’ 24-17 victory.

Then, players from both teams, but mostly Michigan as the scene was near its sideline, swarmed the scene as it swelled into a larger fracas. Players and staff members were pushed down.

“We had multiple staff and our own sideline getting over to break it up, to protect, to get out of there,” Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said. “Like I said, I haven’t thoroughly looked at every angle and whatnot. I know the conference is going to be looking into it. We’ve been in touch with them.”

An overhead view from a Big Ten Network broadcast showed running back Kalel Mullings stomping on or near where a Michigan State staffer had been knocked to the ground. Whether his foot made contact with the person isn’t clear from the video.

“Yes, we had a staff member that was in the fray of it and a player in the fray of it,” Smith said Monday. “And that’s why we’re hoping they’re (the Big Ten) looking into it.”

Moments after the melee, Loveland told Big Ten Network’s Brooke Fletcher, “Little bro stayed doing little bro things. So MSU, the little bro, they can do whatever they want. We knew it was gonna get chippy, but everything within the confines of the game we do right. And then after, if they wanna get busy, we’ll get busy.”

His head coach, first-year Michigan boss Sherrone Moore, offered a more controlled take.

“I told the team it was unacceptable regardless of what happened and how it started,” Moore said postgame. “There’s guys chirping at us and us responding. The guy headbutted Colston at the end. Our job is to represent this university. It’s not to respond to that. It’s to let the refs handle that. It’s something we’ll handle internally and take care of. That’s not Michigan football. That’s not who we are.”

On Monday, with a day to process the events, Moore said he had not heard from the Big Ten regarding the scuffle and repeatedly said his team will handle discipline internally.

“That’s not how we represent the University of Michigan, the Block M or the winged helmet,” Moore said at his press conference Monday. “So we’ll take care of that, so that’ll never happen again.”

Moore shared that sentiment with his team in the locker room after the game, and he said he plans to address it again Monday. But the Wolverines didn’t need too much of a reminder that what happened was wrong.

“I don’t think much had to be said,” defensive back Quinten Johnson said Monday. “We kinda know what’s acceptable, what’s not acceptable. Some things happened, and he addressed it and we walked past it.”

No discipline has been announced against Michigan or Michigan State.