Penn State starting defensive tackle Antonio Shelton will be suspended for the Nittany Lions' Nov. 9 game against Minnesota, coach James Franklin announced Tuesday night.
Shelton appeared to spit on a Michigan State player and was ejected at the 7:30 mark of the fourth quarter against the Spartans on Saturday. The Big Ten released a statement saying the conference supports Shelton's one-game suspension.
"The Big Ten Conference office announced today that it publicly reprimands Penn State football player Antonio Shelton for violating the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy during a game against Michigan State on Oct. 26," a press release said.
The Big Ten considered the matter closed and had no further comment on the matter. Shelton apologized via Twitter after the game.
Franklin spoke after the Michigan State game saying he was not happy with Shelton's actions and that it was immediately addressed after the game.
"We just had a very direct conversation in the locker room about those things," Franklin said in the postgame news conference. "It was an emotional game, I'm not going to get into the details with you guys. During the whole game, I'm not going to make excuses. We're going to own it all. That's not who we are, and that's not who we will be."
Franklin said he has made the mistake before of not addressing a situation the right way after a hard-fought game and that he made sure Shelton knew his actions would have repercussions.
"That's not who we are," Franklin said. "I think the people that have covered us for six years, I can be criticized for a lot of things. I don't think that's one. We play a disciplined style of football around here. I take a lot of pride in the 700,000 fans and alumni that we represent."
