Mark Dantonio was not amused by the Michigan Wolverines’ pregame stunt of planting a spear in the Michigan State turf on Saturday.

“You might as well just come out and say what you’re feeling at some point, because I can only be diplomatic for so long,” Dantonio said in the post-game press conference before angrily discussing the spear incident and his team’s response.

The little brother stuff, all the disrespect didn’t have to go in that direction. We try to handle ourself with composure. That doesn’t come from the coach, that comes from the program. Throwing the stake down in our backyard out here and coming out here like they’re all that…We were not going to cool off of that.

The Spartans were ranked eighth in the country by the Associated Press poll going into Saturday’s game against in-state rivals Michigan. Despite Michigan State’s run of success in recent years, Dantonio and the fans in East Lansing have long resented the heightened stature of storied but currently hapless Michigan.

That tension reached its breaking point when the Wolverines took the field at Spartan Stadium and promptly thrust a stake in it.

Michigan coach Brady Hoke, on the hot seat after three underperforming seasons, played coy when asked about it after the game.

He was “aware that something happened but not fully aware,” adding that he “heard that a young man put a stake in the ground.”

The Spartans, however, were fully aware from the moment it happened.

“They disrespected us right out of the gate,” Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook said. “We weren’t having that, so if we had the ball we were going to score.”

Senior running back Jeremy Langford ran the ball for his third touchdown of the game with 28 seconds to go. The game was already a lopsided affair, but that sealed it at 35-11. The win was Mark Dantonio’s sixth in eight tries against their Ann Arbor rivals.

“It just felt like we needed to put a stake in them at that point,” the coach said.

The game was an all-around disaster for Michigan. The program, known for a long history at the top of college football’s pecking order, is becoming accustomed to disappointment.

The school issued a statement Sunday afternoon in which Hoke apologized for his player’s pregame staking.

After the win, Mark Dantonio’s team remained 5th in the Coaches’ Poll announced Sunday. Michigan State will have a bye next weekend before hosting the 13th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in East Lansing on November 8. The two teams are currently 1-2 in the Big Ten East division.

[photo credit: mattradickal]