Daily Brews: Penn State players accused of gouging Shea Patterson’s eyes at bottom of pile

Everyone is on to Notre Dame being that it is Wednesday, but Tuesday night’s media session with members of the Michigan football team revealed some shenanigans that took place on Saturday night in Happy Valley.

According to left tackle Jon Runyan Jr., quarterback Shea Patterson was taking fingers to the eye in the bottom of the pile during his QB sneak touchdown run in the game.

“Even on the touchdown (when) he had the QB sneak, I can’t believe it, but we were down there, we were in the pile – I wasn’t in it – but Shea was getting his eyes gouged out in the scrum over there,” Runyan told the media on Tuesday. “And he was still fighting away, even though people were digging his eyes. Came to the sidelines with tears all in his eyes, because it was ridiculous that people were trying to gouge his eyes out.

“But he kept fighting for us. And we appreciate it. Awesome leader. We’ll do whatever we can to protect him, because we know he has the ability to make those plays.”

Runyan said that the officials never saw it because it happened at the bottom of the pile.

“I’ve heard of ankle-twisting, but I hadn’t really heard much about eye-gouging,” Runyan said. “It’s kind of ridiculous, unfair. That scrum lasted a good 30 seconds and guys weren’t coming off. Shea and Ben Mason kept trying to push their feet to get the ball across the line. It’s something I’ve never seen before. I guess it’s something they felt they needed to do to get an edge. It’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s whatever. The refs couldn’t see it because it was at the bottom of the pile.”

Patterson confirmed it during his turn with the media.

“I’ve never been in a pile as violent as that one,” Patterson said. “Got the touchdown, but that wasn’t fun.

“Dude had his index finger in my eye, in my eye socket, for about, like I said, about 10 seconds. Yeah, that wasn’t good.”

That certainly isn’t good if it happened. In fact, it’s pretty rotten. Luckily nobody was hurt and Patterson does not have to try to read defenses with an eye patch.

Analyst compares Isaiah Todd to Rasheed Wallace

Basketball analyst Tim McCormick can be counted among the legions of people who believe Michigan basketball and Juwan Howard landed a future star in the form of five-star recruit Isaiah Todd and he has a bit of a comparison to a name that should be familiar to basketball fans in the state.

Here is what McCormick told Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider:

“I’ve been thinking about who he reminds me of, and it’s so challenging. He’s only 205 pounds. Typically, we compare to NBA guys and by the time they get to the NBA, most of these prospects are a lot bigger. I think back to Rasheed Wallace when he was a freshman or a sophomore at North Carolina just oozed with potential. I think that Wallace was a much better big shooter… one of the best that I’ve seen from deep range. I don’t think Isaiah Todd will be a great long-range shooter just watching his release. I think he’s more of a 15-foot and in jump shooter. I tended to think about Horace Grant when he came into the NBA. Only about 210, exited the league probably about 250. So, Isaiah is going to put weight on a very similar frame. But the other thing really stands out to me is that he seems very poised. He does not force action (and) he understands defensive concepts. I think he’s going to be a remarkable get for Juwan. And also, he’s going to give a lot of confidence to other recruits that it’s cool to play at Michigan. Juwan Howard is a guy that can prepare you for the next level.”

More elite talent figures to be on the way after Todd. We will just have to wait and see who winds up being the next domino to fall.

Other Brews

• Apparently the Jim Harbaugh to the NFL rumors are ready to get rolling again, at least in FootballScoop’s eyes. This...probably is not even close to true.
• Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($9.3 million) is the highest-paid coach in college football, per USA Today. Coming in after him is Alabama’s Nick Saban ($8.9 million), Harbaugh ($7.5 million), Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher ($7.5 million) and Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($6.9 million).
• Shoutout to former Michigan basketball point guard Derrick Walton Jr., who has signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.