Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez: Jonas Mouton will not be punished for incident against Irish

Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez said linebacker Jonas Mouton won't be punished for striking Notre Dame center Eric Olsen in the face during Saturday’s win over the Irish.

Rodriguez said he “didn’t see anybody throw a punch or anything like that” on film.

Asked what he did see, Rodriguez said, “The little bit I saw, the clip I saw, the guys got tangled up together and Jonas was trying to free himself. I mean, there was a whole lot of officials out there. I’m sure if there was infraction they would have called it.”

With just under nine minutes left in the second quarter, Mouton appeared to strike Olsen underneath his facemask as he disengaged from a block after a play.

Mouton, who made five tackles and recovered a fumble against the Irish, practiced Wednesday.

Big Ten spokesperson Scott Chipman said by e-mail the conference "reviews all plays on a weekly basis."

"If there's a sportslike conduct issue, we'll comment at the appropriate time," Chipman wrote.

Rodriguez said players are punished internally for personal-foul penalties, and that Saturday’s game was no more chippy than most.

"I didn't sense, from my view on the sidelines, that guys were jawing at each other too much and that there were intentional late hits or any of that stuff. I didn't sense that at all," Rodriguez said. "Coaches didn't say about anything after the game."