Wolverine Digest

Michigan's Kalel Mullings denies MSU allegations: 'I wasn't stomping on anybody'

The Wolverine running back set the record straight with reporters on Tuesday...

Matt Lounsberry

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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This year's Michigan-Michigan State rivalry game added another altercation to a growing list of them in the Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.

Following the Wolverines' 24-17 win over the Spartans, after a kneel down by Michigan, the two teams got into an entanglement sparked by a confrontation between Michigan tight end Colston Loveland and MSU defensive end Anthony Jones.

As the two teams came together, U-M running back Kalel Mullings was in the middle of the skirmish, and was accused by the Michigan State faithful and portions of Spartan media of stomping on someone associated with MSU. Mullings addressed the postgame altercation, and the allegations slung his way, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

“Thankfully, I don’t really pay too much attention to social media,” Mullings said. “I saw my grandma was calling me and stuff, talking about what they’re saying online, and stuff like that. But I was cool throughout the entire thing, because I knew I didn’t do what people were saying I was doing.

“So, I wasn’t stomping on anybody or anything like that so it didn’t really bother me too much. It was really, I would say it was probably bothering the people around me and my family and stuff more than me, because I was just like — it’s whatever. I know I didn’t do it, and I’m not on (social media) that much anyway, so didn’t really bother me.”

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore defended Mullings in the immediate aftermath of the skirmish with Michigan State, stating the senior running back was one of the players trying to break up the altercation.

"We’ve looked at the film, looked at everything, had our discussions internally," Moore said. "We saw a lot of our guys being positive. I think there’s things out there about Kalel Mullings, he was one of the guys who was trying to be a superhero. He was trying to pull everybody apart. I think our guys were doing the right thing.”

On Tuesday, Mullings corroborated Moore's description of what happened postgame.

“So, obviously, the fight broke out,” Mullings said. “Guys are going everywhere, and we’re just in the crowd. I was just trying to get guys away and break it up. So, yeah, that's really all there was. And I guess people saw that in some angles, yeah."

Michigan and Michigan State will renew their annual rivalry at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing in 2025.

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