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."
Comments
bradl163
Fri, Sep 18, 2009 : 1:51 p.m.
i say start protesting the ann arbor news! no other news source is giving so much negative press to RR
aareader
Thu, Sep 17, 2009 : 9:57 a.m.
RR put the whole thing perspective, a non event. Time to move on. There is a great season ahead. Go Blue.
friend12
Thu, Sep 17, 2009 : 8:38 a.m.
One more thing, if there was a punch don't you think ESPN would have shown it over and over?
friend12
Thu, Sep 17, 2009 : 8:35 a.m.
This happened if front of me and beyond the scuffling that didn't last long, I didn't see either player through a punch. Other players separated them almost immediately. If this wasn't a UM team surrounded by controversy, this wouldn't even be news.
OneWolverine
Thu, Sep 17, 2009 : 7:55 a.m.
Problem is they wont move on, they are the IRISH where crying after loosing is a way of life! Lets remember the quote from Ole slim pickens Charlie something about im sick of hearing the excuses from Michigan, to hell with Michigan!;>/ we had to sit a whole year remembering those words. I say they got everything they deserved!
Txmaizenblue
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 10:56 p.m.
What is the deal with these people?? You Ann Arbor media folks seem to constantly give the impression your on a witch hunt. There's such a self-righteous tone to the questions.
tater
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 8:19 p.m.
I would imagine that RR has taken care of whatever needs to be taken care of internally. Maybe the media would be happier if Mouton were put in stocks and flogged on State and Liberty at noon.
GoBlueinNEPA
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 5:58 p.m.
I agree w/RichRod on this one "why are we talking about this for?". I've seen the video. Yeah he punched the jacka$$ from ND. The guy was cheap shotting Mouton and he went back at him. If you think stuff like this doesn't happen on just about every play, then you've never been on the field. It's a rough sport folks, get used to it.
theseeker
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 4:43 p.m.
The media needs to take a deep breath and move on to something substantive. No penalty was called. If anything, the ND player should have been flagged.
A2D2
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 4:07 p.m.
I agree with Coach. Nothing flagrant happened, and ND needs to move on..............
michboy40
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 : 3:16 p.m.
I'm not sure this is the right approach. I would suspect that Mouton will be disciplined behind closed doors. Charlie should also tell his guys that there is no need to ram guys in the back 3 seconds after the whistle blows, and 10 yards from the actual play.