It seems like no matter what the final score is, there is always some other storyline to talk about with the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. Last year, there was a story about the visitor's locker room in Ann Arbor not having any hot water. Three years ago, there was the controversy over the pylon touchdown. In 2007, Mike Hart's "Little Brother" comments set off a firestorm and have come back to bite Michigan in the butt since then.
This year, the main storyline is how physical Michigan State was on Saturday. Many believe the Spartans were too physical, at least after the whistle. Most of this talk revolves around two main incidents that involved MSU's William Gholston. First he violently twisted Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson's face mask after a play was over, and later he punched Michigan offensive tackle Taylor Lewan away from the play. Video of the incidents can be found after the jump.
Gholston was penalized for both incidents, and now the question on everybody's mind is this: Will the Big Ten suspend him for Saturday's showdown against Wisconsin? If they do, it certainly wouldn't be an unprecedented move. In 2009, Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton was suspended for punching a Notre Dame player and Purdue offensive guard Zach Reckman was suspended for dropping a forearm on a Northern Illinois player. Also, just this year, Illinois linebacker Jonathan Brown was suspended for a game for kneeing a Northwestern player in the groin. (Illinois suspended him, but the Big Ten upheld the suspension and would have likely taken action if the school didn't.)
Considering Gholston not only punched Lewan but also twisted Robinson's helmet, I would be quite surprised if the Big Ten doesn't suspend him. There's no room for those kinds of acts in football, and Gholston probably should have been ejected from the game. Considering both incidents were caught on camera and have generated quite a bit of discussion, the Big Ten has to act based on what it has done in the past.
While Gholston deserves praise for wreaking havoc with Michigan's offensive line, his actions after plays were already over should be seriously condemned. They were not only stupid in the sense that he could have hurt somebody, but also in the sense that they cost his team -- during the game and likely next week as well.