Les Miles defends LSU player after vicious clothesline hit

Things took an nasty turn at the end of Wisconsin’s opening-game 16-14 upset win over No. 6 LSU on Saturday.

After safety D’Cota Dixon secured the win following a late-game interception, LSU offensive lineman Josh Boutte blindsided with a massive clothesline hit as Dixon celebrated the play.

Boutte was immediately thrown out of the game for a flagrant personal foul, but after the game, LSU head coach Les Miles came to his defense. He prefaced by saying that he still “has to see the film,” but that Boutte is “not a malicious guy.”

Speaking after the game, via The Times Picayune:

“I grabbed him right away when it happened, I’ll have to see the film. He’s an offensive lineman in protection. What happens downfield many times, you can be protecting beyond the play with the idea you don’t know if the ball is even thrown.
“It’s very logical he did not know the guy had gone down and was just running. He just came up on a guy he thought was returning the ball and made a tackle. And that’s what he said (to Miles), and I believe it. He’s not a malicious guy. I can’t imagine he saw him go down and went and made a tackle.”