Two Irish players thugs ganged up on Jerome Hayes, punching him on the ground with his helmet off. The official finally threw a flag and Hayes didn’t retaliate — immediately. From the Patriot-News HOT LIST:

…we would like to give a special shout-out to PSU defensive end Jerome Hayes for two reasons. First, Hayes, one of the Lions’ most aggressive players, didn’t fight back when two Notre Dame players were pounding him on the ground after a PSU punt in the first half, an Irish no-no that drew a 15-yard personal foul flag. And second, we loved Hayes’ candid postgame response when asked if he thought about retaliating on the play. “I’m not going to say it was hard not to retaliate because you gotta remember where you are,” said Hayes, who grew up in Bayonne, N.J. “You’re not out on the street, you’re playing for the Lions. You can’t get a penalty because that sets your team back, you know? I give thanks to my anger management coach from the summer.”

Left unsaid is Hayes sacked Jimmy Clausen later in the game and spent most of the evening in the Notre Dame backfield, drawing at least one holding penalty. The Irish linemen probably got away with a lot more too.

Hayes has the fire and he knows how to control it. I like where this is going.

H/T Fanhouse

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