Kornacki: Lewis, Stribling Help Lock Down Wisconsin
10/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 1, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jourdan Lewis made the play of the game, but his cornerback mate Channing Stribling was the player of the game with two interceptions and two pass breakups.
There aren't two better cover corners on one college team, and they are a big reason why the Wolverines play the way they do.
Confidence was the defining quality of Michigan's defense in Saturday's 14-7 victory over No. 8 Wisconsin, and it was debatable whether the run crunching, pass rushing or pass covering was more impressive.
But there was no debating this: Time after time, the defense needed to get back on the field and either protect a scant lead or deny the go-ahead score.
And time after time, it succeeded. The Badgers, who had scored 30 points one week earlier at Michigan State, encountered a brutish Wolverine front line, very able linebackers and a pair of corners who played as big of a role as anybody for No. 4 Michigan.
"I know the D-line believes in us," said Lewis, an All-America cornerback last season. "The linebackers believe in us, and I know that we believe in those guys. That's that trust that's been built over the years, and it's understanding that those guys are going to get their jobs done."
When asked if their confidence comes from the belief they have in one another, Lewis responded: "Definitely, definitely."
His one-handed interception will be compared to the one-handed pick Charles Woodson made against the Spartans in his Heisman Trophy-winning season of 1997 and also drew comparisons to the one-handed catch New York Giants star Odell Beckham Jr. made against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.
Lewis stayed stride for stride with Badgers receiver George Rushing on a deep route, jumped forward, reached high, snatched the ball with his right hand, came down with it against his thigh, gathered it into his midsection and popped up with the ball.
He was a football magician, pure and simple.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was asked if he'd ever seen anything like that.
"Yeah, I've seen Odell Beckham do that," said Harbaugh. "It looked like that kind of play. The most impressive thing about it was that he jumped a little early, and I was a little nervous that he was going to come down, and the ball was going to go over his fingertips. But he was able to hang in the air and made a spectacular play.
"Then I was thinking, 'Well, it's fourth down.' It probably would have been better had he not intercepted it (for better field position for Michigan's offense). But I'm really glad he did because it was a spectacular, spectacular football play, an athletic play and really unbelievable."
Stribling also made two crucial interceptions.
"They were testing him deep," Harbaugh said of Stribling, "and he got his hand on four or five balls in the game, which is outstanding, and two interceptions, that's outstanding for a corner. And he tackled. I think he had a heck of a ballgame as well. Both of our corners really played well."
Stribling's first pick finished Wisconsin's final drive of the first half. He read the pass quarterback Alex Hornibrook threw, jumped the out-cut route by Jazz Peavy and snagged the ball before returning it five yards to the Wisconsin 44-yard line. He'd have gotten his second pick-six of the season had Peavy not grabbed him.
"That was kind of more instinct," Stribling said. "I saw the release, and he was kind of heading to the corner. So, I took a chance, under cut it, and it was there."
Stribling's second interception, with 3:24 left in the game, put an end to the last realistic chance the Badgers had. He picked off Hornibrook and returned it four yards to the Wisconsin 45-yard line.
"I tried to stay over the top a little bit," said Stribling, "and the pressure got to the quarterback early. So, the quarterback over-threw him, and I made the play."
Wisconsin completed only one pass that exceeded 20 yards, and Lewis added a pass breakup to his pick while making four sure tackles. Stribling had two tackles.
"Our defensive backs where in tight coverage all day," Harbaugh said, "and they tested us short, deep, crossing routes, the works, and our guys stood up to it."
Lewis missed the first three games with injuries and got the rust off against Colorado. Against the Badgers, the cornerback duo showed what they were truly capable of achieving together.
They came to Michigan together -- Lewis from Detroit Cass Tech and Stribling from suburban Charlotte, North Carolina -- in 2013 and will go out together after this season.
"The sky's the limit for us," Stribling said earlier this year. "Nobody can tell us that we can't. Nobody can tell us that we can. It's really on us; but I feel that we can. We've got to leave it all on the field and make sure we have no regrets."
They love playing opposite one another, and Stribling is stepping up the challenge of teams shying away from Lewis, who made a school-record 22 pass breakups last season.
"He's a great cover corner," Stibling said of Lewis. "Once I do my job, they've got to choose. They tested us early to see who the weak link was, and we don't have any."
Lewis said of Stribling: "That's the kind of player he is. He's a playmaker, and he put us in a great position to win this game."
Stribling added on Lewis: "He's a great guy and a great player. His charisma is high. His confidence is high. He's never going to get down. Just playing alongside him is great."
Lewis said he'd made a similar interception to his game-clinching pick in a practice but noted that he didn't stay up in the air as long on that one.
"It felt like a very long time," Lewis said of his levitation. "I saw the ball, and I jumped up, and it was in the air for a while. My hand was in the air for a minute, and so it was definitely a great play. I'm just glad my guys gave me an opportunity to make a play like that.
"I had to react. I knew I had to get my hand on the ball, and so why not get up there and get it. I thought the ball hit the ground first. But I said, 'Jesus, I have the ball!' It was a little bit crazy."
That catch at the Badgers' 46-yard line with 2:15 remaining to play and Wisconsin out of time outs allowed the Wolverines to run out the clock and stay undefeated at 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big Ten.
Michigan limited Wisconsin to 71 yards rushing, 88 yards passing and 159 yards total. The Badgers had amassed between 317 and 586 yards total offense in winning four previous games -- including two against then top-10 teams in LSU and MSU -- but likely would've but shut out had they not been given the ball 31 yards from the end zone with a tipped interception and long return in the third quarter.
"I thought our secondary was really good," Harbaugh said. "Our defensive line was lights out. It was a game ball for (defensive coordinator) Don Brown. I was very impressed with our defense, and our defensive coaches, and the character of our defensive players and their talent -- A-plus, plus.
"The defense was a shining star today, and that phase of our team was outstanding, awesome with a capital 'A.'"
Lewis took pride in the accomplishment.
"It was a hard game," he said, "and we finished it. That was the most gratifying thing. We go out there and finish games."
And in the case of his instant-classic interception, finished with an exclamation point.
