LSU coach Les Miles will review late hit on Wisconsin's D'Cota Dixon

ByAdam Rittenberg ESPN logo
Sunday, September 4, 2016

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- LSU coach Les Miles said he will review offensive lineman Josh Boutte's late hit on Wisconsin's D'Cota Dixon, but he thinks it's possible that Boutte didn't know the play was over.

Boutte, a starting guard for the Tigers, was ejected after leveling Dixon with 57 seconds left in No. 5 LSU's 16-14 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday at Lambeau Field. Dixon intercepted Brandon Harris' pass near the LSU sideline and then started celebrating with the ball and his hand raised when Boutte hit him.

Wisconsin's Vince Biegel and other players immediately confronted Boutte, a 6-foot-5, 346-pound senior from New Iberia, Louisiana.

"I grabbed him right away," Miles said. "I'm going to have to see the film, but he's an offensive lineman in protection and what happens downfield sometimes is you're protecting beyond the play. ... Again, I'll have to check this, but it's very logical that he did not even know [Dixon] had gone down and was just running [with the ball]."

NCAA rules stipulate that conference offices must review all "flagrant personal foul ejections," so the SEC will look at the Boutte hit and determine whether any additional discipline is needed.

Boutte was not made available to reporters after the game.

"He's not a malicious guy," Miles said. "I just can't imagine that he saw him go down and then made it back."

Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said he didn't see the play.

"I didn't see it coming, I didn't see the hit or anything," Dixon told ESPN. "I was shocked a little bit, but it's all right. I've been hit harder. I understand. It's part of the game. He was frustrated, probably. I'd be frustrated too."

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