The Michigan vs. Michigan State rivalry is legendary, but those outside of the Mitten might now quite get how big the rivalry is until they experience it in the flesh. Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith is coaching is first season with the Spartans, and even he admits that he didn’t quite realize the intensity of this rivalry until the guys traveled to the Big House in Ann Arbor to play this years game on Saturday, October 26.

Now, though, Smith gets it. He really understands the hate and rivalry between these two teams. At the end of the game, a fight broke out on the field, too, adding to the angst.

Michigan State Head Coach Jonathan Smith Talks Michigan Rivalry

The Monday after the game, Smith spoke with press, and he still sounded pretty shaken up about the Michigan State loss, 24-17, to Michigan. It was a close game, and MSU could have absolutely won it. But, they didn’t.

“I think for me, it kind of crystalized Saturday night,” Smith said in the October 28 press conference. “Leading into it, knew it was important, rivalry, emotion and going but now, truly experience it for the first time, that thing is different, that thing is important and that’s why it’s so frustrating to feel like we could have done a few things better. … After experiencing that sucker, I will not forget that thing.”

He added that he could feel the heat the day of the game, before it even started.

“I think you just walk into the place and there’s a genuine dislike,” Smith said. “You could feel that from the get-go of pregame from the crowd to the place and then sharing the tunnel. That’s unique in a rivalry piece to share that tunnel and be walking by these guys non-stop.”

Regarding the fight that broke out on the field, Smith said, “In this particular one, hopefully this is a scene that doesn’t take place again.”

The Legacy of Michigan State University vs. Michigan

Michigan State now has fallen three straight times against Michigan for the first time since 2005-07. Jonathan Smith hopes for better things in the years to come.

“That locker room, when I walked in after that game, this thing means something, it was frustrating,” Smith said. “I actually told them that’s a good thing. If I would have walked into the locker room and these guys were just staring at their phones or something, we’d have problems. We didn’t have that. This thing was emotional and that’s how we want to be playing the game.”

Smith also confirmed that “MSU had a player and staff member in the pile where Michigan RB Kalel Mullings was caught on video stomping,” according to Chris Solari of the Detroit Free Press, per a message on X from Solari. “That is something the Big Ten will be examining, he adds.”

Michigan State football is back at it this week in a home game against Indiana. Kickoff between the Spartans and Hoosiers is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.