What exactly happened to Brian Lewerke late in the fourth quarter against Illinois?

By now, everyone is all too familiar with what happened in the meltdown against the Illini. Michigan State blew a lead of epic proportions while Illinois scored 27 points in the final quarter.

However, one play drew particular interest after the game. With Michigan State driving with a chance to ice the game, Lewerke ran a short QB keeper play. On the play, Lewerke took a knee to the back of his helmet during the tackle but stayed in the game. He threw a pick-six shortly after.

On Tuesday, head coach Mark Dantonio said Lewerke did, in fact, not go through concussion protocol. Lewerke also said he was fine to play but admitted his head was ringing after the hit.

RELATED: Mark Dantonio said Brian Lewerke did not go through concussion protocol despite his head ‘ringing’ after hit

Those comments by Lewerke and Dantonio are even more confusing after Anthony M. Avellino, Assistant Provost for Student Wellness, Health and Safety, released a statement on the incident. According to Avellino, Lewerke was given a “symptom assessment” before returning to the game. He also said there was further testing administered on Sunday as a precautionary measure.

Justin Frommer with The State News shared the statement:

So, what exactly did happen to Lewerke? Who knows, but MSU is now saying that he was at least checked out – during the game and the day after – and showed no signs of a concussion.