The Hit vs. The Hit: Jadeveon Clowney's play enters Gamecock lor - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

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The Hit vs. The Hit: Jadeveon Clowney's play enters Gamecock lore

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By Jeremy Turnage - email
Gamecock defensive end Jadeveon Clowney delivers a big hit to Michigan running back Vincent Smith in 2012. (Source: TheBigSpur) Gamecock defensive end Jadeveon Clowney delivers a big hit to Michigan running back Vincent Smith in 2012. (Source: TheBigSpur)

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It's South Carolina vs. Michigan.

Michigan has the ball in their own territory, and they line up for a run play in the I-formation. The ball is snapped.

Michigan's quarterback hands it off to his running back, who runs for a few yards, but is soon met with a thunderous hit from a Gamecock defender. The Wolverine's helmet flies off as the two players hit the ground.

It sounds familiar, but it's not the 2012 Outback Bowl where Jadeveon Clowney's game-changing hit against Wolverines running back Vincent Smith helped to revive the Gamecocks to beat Michigan.

It's 1985, and it's Gamecock linebacker Willie Hill putting a stop to a run by Wolverines running back Thomas Wilcher. It was also the last time the Gamecocks played the Wolverines. The play was uploaded to YouTube in February 2011 and is titled "The Hit!"

The games are 28 years apart, but both share a common bond besides the opponent: a big hit that enters Gamecock lore.

Clowney's hit during Tuesday's 33-28 victory at the Outback Bowl has spread all over social media and the sports news outlets.

It made number one on ESPN's Top 10 plays during SportsCenter. SB Nation's Spencer Hall compared the hit to "a bowhunter cracking a wounded deer's neck." Yahoo! Sports called it a "jaw-dropping play." Sports Illustrated said the play was a "monster hit".

Whatever you want to call it, The 2012 Hit will be something talked about long after Clowney has played his final down of South Carolina football. Maybe even his last down of football period.

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