Zook considers flag incident overzealous

Illinois coach Ron Zook wasn’t happy about Saturday’s melee between his players and Michigan State’s after the Illini’s upset victory. The brawl was precipitated by the planting of the Illini flag at midfield. “I apologize for the incident after the game,” Zook said. “You hate to see those kind of things happen. Had I seen that, I’d have grabbed the flag and not done it. We have to learn how to win. We’ll deal with those things on Monday.” Senior running back E.B. Halsey said, “We were just excited to finally get a win.” Michigan State senior defensive tackle Clifton Ryan saw it similarly. “That was a big victory for their program and they just got caught up in the moment,” he said.