Future generations of Michiganders may remember this as the Michigan-Michigan "Stake" game, another mean moment in a nasty intrastate feud, one to kvetch about for years, Joe Lapointe writes on MLive.
Until it was over at Spartan Stadium Saturday, it seemed like a routine whipping by the powerful Spartans over the hapless Wolverines, this time 35-11, Michigan State's sixth victory in their last seven meetings.
The stake Lapointe refers to was an actual spike of sorts that a U-M player -- it appears to be Joe Bolden, a junior linebacker -- thrust into the MSU turf before the game as he and his teammates strut and swagger like they are champions of the west, or something.
In all the pregame chaos on the field and in the stands, not everyone noticed the stake incident, but the BigTen Network posts what it calls exclusive video of the scene.
At the game's end, the Spartans drove 48 yards for a final touchdown instead of running out the clock, embarrassing Michigan by running up the score.
The video also shows MSU coach Mark Dantonio in an unusually frank post-game press conference, in which he discusses the stake and other aspects of the UM-MSU rivalry.
"You might as well just come out and say what you are feeling at some point because you can only be diplomatic for so long," Dantonio said. "The little brother stuff, all the disrespect, they didn't have to go in that direction. We try to handle ourselves with composure. It doesn't come from the coach; it comes from the program."
