The 8 Hardest Hitters in College Football

The game of football is the most popular sport because in order to succeed, hitting and tackling and required.

The more physical team usually wins the game, and since it's a violent sport that doesn't include kicking or punching, it's made beautiful.

Having the opportunity to knock someone out with a collision—with bodies flying all over the place—makes football is poetry in motion.

And yet, the violence of hitting and tackling counteracts with emotion and intimidation.

With video (on six of the eight), here are college football's hardest hitters.

Vontaze Burfict: LB, Arizona State

One of the better linebacking prospects for the 2012 NFL Draft, Arizona State's Vontaze Burfict is the heart and soul of the Sun Devils.

He's 6' 3", 250 pounds, and is very fast and athletic for his size.

Manti Te'o: LB, Notre Dame

Notre Dame hasn't seen a LB like Manti Te'o come through South Bend for quite some time.

The scary thing is, Te'o still has another year of eligibility. Pretty sure Irish fans would love to see him wearing the gold helmet for one more year.

Trent Richardson: RB, Alabama

Trent Richardson is an absolute man-beast.

He's 5'11", 224 pounds and runs around a 4.5 second 40-yard dash.

Not to mention he's about as strong as they come, as evidenced by his Florida state weightlifting title.

Andrew Luck: QB, Stanford

How insanely talented is Stanford's Andrew Luck?

He can run, throw, catch, and play LB in pro football in he wanted. Enjoy the hit, and maybe Stanford will use him in goal-line defense.

Tyrann Mathieu: DB, LSU

LSU's Tyrann Mathieu may not have any big highlight hits like everyone else on this list, but he's very good at forcing fumbles.

Obviously, not every forced fumble is off a big hit, but being that he's a sure tackler makes him a hard-hitter.

You can't consistently rely on stripping the football if you've forced as many fumbles as Mathieu has. So, although he doesn't explode anybody to smithereens, his hitting ability is as high and consistent as anyone in college football.  

Ronnell Lewis: DE, Oklahoma

He may not have seen the field very often prior to 2010, or have contributed nearly as much as he has in 2011, but Oklahoma's Ronnell Lewis has a big hit-to-tackle ratio of close to 100 percent.

Every time he zeros in on a ball carrier, there's about as much of a chance as Ronnell getting a stick as Tyrann Mathieu forcing a fumble.

And he's only getting better.

Greg Reid: DB, Florida State

This is just one area of how versatile Greg Reid plays defense. He can be very sneaky when causing turnovers, but he hits just as hard as he plays.

As we find out in the video, when South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore was a freshman and welcomed violently to college football.

Tank Carder: LB, TCU

If your name is "Tank" (even if it's just a nickname) you have no other choice in life but to play football and be a linebacker.

Those are just the rules and Tank Carder is living by them to the fullest.

Be sure to check out John on Bleacher Report. 

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