The Clowney-Lewan battle

Submitted by MGlobules on

Article at sportsline about the game's big matchup, notes that it shaped up as the blockbuster battle that everyone expected:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/blog/rob-rang/21483627/clowney-vs-le….

Suggests that Clowney gave Lewan problems, but that Michigan's All American lineman largely held his own. Lewan was not responsible for Clowney on the big play that nailed Vince Smith in the backfield and resulted in a fumble.

EDIT: After the game, according to the News, Lewan sought Clowney out. "I went up to him after the game and told him, 'You're one of the best defensive ends I've ever played against.' He said, 'You're the best tackle I've ever played against.' So that's a great compliment to have, but none of this matters because we didn't win the damn game."

coldnjl

January 1st, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^

Besides the total farse of giving the player of the game to Clowney over Ace, it was a very good battle. Lewan did well and cemented himself as a top 8-10 pick...HE gone

However...that hit was amazing. I wasn't even mad when that went down...reminded me of B. Graham vs State...but WAY better!

TheGhostofYost

January 1st, 2013 at 9:12 PM ^

Clowney getting player of the game was a joke.  Dude had four tackles.  Sure he forced the fumble, but are you telling me he was more valuable than the guy with 3 TDs?  I think not.  But what do you expect from sports?  Objectivity is not exaclty highly-valued.

BlizzardOfOz

January 1st, 2013 at 9:13 PM ^

I think Clowney was held in check for the most part.  Yeah, he had a huge play on the forced fumble.  I still don't agree with the decision to give him the player of the game award.  I though Connor Shaw played out of his mind.  And he was playing hurt. 

panthera leo fututio

January 1st, 2013 at 9:32 PM ^

Shaw came up limping numerous times throughout the game, and the announcers made frequent reference to a foot injury he suffered earlier in the year and had re-aggravated recently. For someone with so much to say about it, you don't seem to have given the game much attention.

panthera leo fututio

January 1st, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^

So his limp back to the huddle after that run was just some sort of avant garde celebration, and not related to the foot injury he suffered against Tennessee and has re-injured repeatedly? Because it's impossible to make any plays while fighting through injury?

I get being mad about the loss, and we're all 14-year-olds at some point in our lives, but I think the board would benefit if your thought-to-post ratio would increase.

willywill9

January 2nd, 2013 at 9:35 AM ^

That's the obvious part of the statement.  To me, this game really accentuated a flaw on our defense: No organic d-line pressure.  We constantly had to dial up blitzes with inexperienced/unestablished personnel in the secondary.  We needed a guy this year who could cause match up problems (e.g. Martin, Graham).  We didn't have that this year at all.

Wolverine Devotee

January 1st, 2013 at 9:31 PM ^

Lewan seemed to have kept him in check. Which worries me.

Sadly Lewan seems as good as gone. I hope to God I'm wrong for next year's OL. Only Schofield remains if he goes pro, which really worries me. 

Perkis-Size Me

January 1st, 2013 at 9:40 PM ^

Clowney was mostly held in check, but unfortunately his decapitation of Vincent Smith is what's going to be remembered, despite the fact that it was not Lewan's fault. People will look at that and assume Clowney just had his way with our offensive line all day. It was one missed assignment that just proved to be very costly.



If you ask me, holding arguably the best defensive player in the country to 3 tackles and 1 TFL tells me Lewan won the matchup. But tomorrow morning, all ESPN will talk about is how Michigan just can't handle the speed of the SEC, that we're not any good, blah blah blah more ESPN sucking SEC dick.



Johnny10er

January 1st, 2013 at 9:50 PM ^

Can one perform fellatio on a gamecock?



I'll be interested to see which way the story is spun. Clockwise, I'm sure (the direction of the sec) Maybe its my maize tinted glasses (or a collection of McClure's bloody Mary tinted glasses) but it seemed that the speed/power thing was neutralized a bit. Other than some dreadful secondary play (by the 3 deep) our big(ish) guys kept their fast guys in check.

MgoRayO3313

January 1st, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^

That killer SEC speed only played a factor on a hand full of plays. ( especially special teams) The majority of the big passing plays we gave up where all posts and double moves. Its funny because it Devin could have been more in sync with Gallon from the get go they would have demonstrated just as much speed. To me the issue is never speed. Its all technique, size and of course natural ability. They don't put any magical pill down in that southern water. They just have twice the opportunity to practice while growing up. Two football seasons a year down there in a area of the nation that already revolves around youth and high school football. Speed is not the issue. Many of those young men just have more opportunities to play the game. Its all natural when you do it every day. Just my opinion of course.