Patrolling the streets on Halloween and rivalry weekend proved to be a tall order for police, who responded to nearly 700 calls in East Lansing alone.
But despite dozens of fights and hundreds of drunken and disorderly people on campus and in the city during the weekend, there were no major incidents to report, officials said Monday.
When MSU faced the University of Michigan in football on Saturday, more than 72,000 fans packed into Spartan Stadium. Tailgating began as early as 10:30 p.m. on Friday.
MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said the peaceful conclusion to the weekend provided "a nice ending to the U-M hype."
"There were a lot of people within the city," McGlothian-Taylor said. "But everybody did behave and act responsibly. You can't ask for more than that."
Almost everybody.
Police made 138 gameday arrests on campus. Most citations were for underage drinking, public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
East Lansing police arrested 55 people during the weekend and issued 198 citations that require people to appear in court.
"It was busy, and we would expect that," East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said. "If people were drawing attention to themselves in a negative way, then we had contact with them.
"For the most part, everybody acted responsibly and were still able to have a good time."
In addition to MSU and East Lansing police, officers from Ingham County, Lansing and Meridian Township assisted in patrolling during the busy weekend.
Officials were concerned about a repeat of disturbances last March when MSU was eliminated from the MSU men's basketball tournament. Revelers then caused $40,000 in damage to the city and campus.
Officers were out in full force on Saturday, responding to 18 fights in East Lansing. There were a total of 29 reports of fights in the city during the weekend.
"We don't like to see any fights because there is always the potential for people to get serious injuries," said Liebler, adding that there were no serious injuries during the weekend.
In some cases, the fights occurred along the same lines as the rivalry between MSU and U-M.
On Saturday evening, police arrested a 21-year-old man from Ann Arbor who apparently urinated on a dorm-room door inside Snyder Hall, McGlothian-Taylor said.
The students told the suspect to clean the door with a towel. When he refused, a scuffle ensued, police said.
During the game, police arrested a 27-year-old female MSU fan who allegedly assaulted a 27-year-old male U-M fan on Saturday afternoon near the tennis courts on Wilson Road.
The victim told police he was watching the football game in his vehicle near the courts when the suspect threatened to hit him with a beer bottle if he didn't "go back to Ann Arbor."
The victim said the woman broke his necklace and scratched him on the back and neck. The suspect denied those claims and said the man was being belligerent.
MSU police have forwarded both cases to the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office for review.
Even though streets were packed Friday night with students looking for Halloween parties, East Lansing police did not issue any citations under the city's stiffened policy on party noise that calls for up to three days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
They did, however, cite 28 party hosts under the old policy that calls for fines up to $500. Police fielded 82 noise complaints during the weekend.
"A lot of people were out, had friends in town and there were a lot of parties," Liebler said.
"The report was that everyone was in a good mood."
Steve Eder can be reached at ederstev@msu.edu.
