It was the best hit by a DL I recall seeing. Keep these items in mind:
Late in the game, team trailing and D already on the field too long.
Bad ref call the play before
What makes it the best is that the runner earlier in the game speared him on a block with his helmet. You could just see the hatred for the ref and revenge factor all wrapped in one.
Lots of DBs make big hits on passing plays. Clowney recovered the ball with his left hand too before the QB could get there.
The popping helmet is the exclamation point. I too laugh every time I see it. It almost looks like cartoon violence.
Exactly....which is why I added in mine "all things considered". There are tons of awesome hits over the years, with many being just as much a physical slobberknocker type of collision. BUT....when you take all the other things leading up this Clowney smack-fusion, I have to stand by my opinion of being THE best defensive hit that I have ever seen. Call it a 'revenge upheaval'....'payback play'...whatever you want, the fact that USCe had just been screwed to epic proportions by the ref and with all the hype Clowney has had throughout the year and lived up to it--this hit was damn near biblical and WILL be legendary for years to come. Everyone has said he is the best def player this year, and by God--with the game on the line, he didn't just deliver, he friggin made THE statement of statements with that one play. IMO--no other defensive play comes close in my mind over all the years I've been watching college ball.
We saw the Holy Grail of Defensive plays with Clowney.
Here's a link to the hit in slow motion (after a couple of real time replays) from the Michigan end zone. Watching the helmet fly through the air in slo mo is almost therapeutic if you hate Michigan.
As a couple others have mentioned, it was the timing and context that make it special. In the first half Clowney had to be helped off the field after getting a helmet to, um, the clowneys, by that same running back, who laughed about it.
He was held and face masked for most of the game.
Then comes what has to be one of the most bizarre first down calls I have ever seen in 40 years of watching football.
And on the following play, with a blown assignment by the o-line, and perfect moves by Clowney, the payback all came together like a perfect storm.
The big hits that cometo mind for me is Miami's Roscoe Parish against Florida State and Wisconsin's Kyle Jefferson against Michigan State.What's amazingabout the hit Kyle took is that he actually got up and ran off the field.
Clowney's hit was amazing but you have to blame the O-line for Michigan that caused this to happen. Watch the video over from the time the ball was snapped and you will see the outside linemen run to the secondary and just let Clowney fly right by. Not one person made contact with Clowney to pick up that rush.
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