Wolverines players react to the late hit by Jacub Panasiuk and why they feel both MSU brothers are ‘dirty.’
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — With it being a bitter, in-state rivalry game, you knew that Michigan vs. MSU would be a chippy affair, despite the disparity in records.
The Wolverines and Spartans were two teams heading in different directions, with MSU coming to Ann Arbor with just 4 wins to 5 losses, while Michigan was in search of its 8th win of the year.
The game was called closely by the officials, but even then, some bridges were crossed.
Take the play of Michigan State defensive end Jacub Panasiuk, who got himself ejected after two personal foul/unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, the final one being a very late hit on Michigan QB Shea Patterson, well after he released the ball.
Naturally, the Michigan players didn’t take too kindly to the hit, but, as senior left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. says, it was par for the course from either of the Panasiuk brothers who play for the Spartans.
“I didn’t see it at the time — I always knew No. 96 was a kind of dirty player, him and his brother,” Runyan said. “I really don’t care too much for them. I made clear of that. You can go back and watch the film — I have a play where I cleaned up 96, took him 20 yards up the field. Not really a big fan of him.
“I don’t really wanna talk trash about him, but I don’t like that guy. I don’t like how he plays the game of football. That was disgusting what he did. Completely unnecessary. You could tell he was frustrated, because he couldn’t do anything against me or Jalen (Mayfield) all game. He had to come up with a different way to affect the game and ended up taking himself out.”
“I kinda wanted to fight him,” Michigan tight end Sean McKeon answered when asked about the late hit by Jacub Panasiuk. “But obviously can’t! A lot of refs right there. Try not to make the situation worse. They did the right thing by getting him out of the game.”
The MSU players, according to the Michigan players, did their share of trash talk, extracurricular activities, and the like to try to get into the Wolverines’ heads.
After the game, senior safety Josh Metellus praised his team for playing clean and between the whistles, noting that the Wolverines try to play football the right way — “They try to take it to a level that isn’t playing football. We play football over here – I don’t know what they do over there, but we play football, and it showed today.”
As for the Michigan side, at least as Runyan can attest for himself, he wasn’t about to start engaging with MSU at the same level.
For him, he wanted to let his play do the talking.
“I really don’t like talking trash,” Runyan said. “Sometimes my emotions can get the best of me at the end of a game. I kinda let my game do the talking. No. 48 over there (Kenny Willekes) — he’s a good pass rusher. He actually talks a lot of trash — not as much this year, he did last year. Again, couldn’t really do much against me and Jalen. That’s a credit to our preparation and the kind of game plan we had going in there.”
And with a 44-10 victory, the Wolverines certainly did let their play make the ultimate statement.
Up next, Michigan travels to Bloomington to take on an insurgent Indiana squad that’s currently 7-3 on the season. Kickoff is slated for 3:30PM EST.
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