Leach: Clowney hit is 'why football was invented'

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- You've seen Jadeveon Clowney's hit on Michigan running back Vincent Smith in the 2013 Outback Bowl by now. If you've watched ESPN at all in the last six months, you've probably seen it a thousand times.

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That hit came to the forefront of the college football news cycle with the new targeting rule , leading some officials to say they would have ejected Clowney for that hit.

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Not if Mike Leach were an official, though. The Washington State head coach is one guy who has been very vocal in his dissent of the targeting rules, and he didn't mince words Friday at 2013 Pac-12 Football Media Day at Sony Pictures Studios when given the platform again.

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"Rules, in order to be effective, have to be enforceable and you've got to be able to see it. If I get these guys across the room and I have them run full speed at each other and I ask you in a split second to tell me which one lowered their head first, I bet you can't do it," Leach said. "One of the plays that is getting criticized is the Clowney hit. That is why they have football and it's why football was invented and it's one of the greatest American games there is."

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