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Michigan senior cornerback Channing Stribling intercepted two passes on Saturday in the Wolverines' 14-7 win over Wisconsin.
(Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News)
ANN ARBOR -- On the final defensive play of the day, Michigan Stadium roared for Jourdan Lewis. It's a common crescendo around here. Lewis is, perhaps, the best cornerback in America, and he does things that normal corners don't do.
In this instance, while flying full speed and splayed out, he contorted his body, reached back and somehow clutched and uncatchable pass. The interception was not only ridiculous, but also sealed the Wolverines' 14-7 win over No. 8 Wisconsin.
"I thought the ball hit the ground first," Lewis said afterward. "But then I'm like, 'Oh, Jesus, I have the ball.' It was crazy."
Members of the media laughed along with Lewis. He plays the part well of being one of college football's brightest stars.
To Lewis' right, meanwhile, was Channing Stribling, quietly speaking with a much smaller pack of reporters. A fellow cornerback, he came to Michigan in the same class as Lewis, but saw his teammate vault past him into the limelight. Prior to this season, Stribling appeared in 34 games, making four starts.
Now with Jeremy Clark out with injury, Stribling is, in every sense of the word, Michigan's other corner. To those watching casually, it's Lewis on one side of the field and No. 8 on the other side. There's an ingrained anonymity that comes with the job.
Stribling, it's becoming clear, is perfect for the gig.
On Saturday, the 6-foot-2 senior intercepted two passes, deflected two more and played the role of a sheet to Lewis' comforter. They blanketed everything.
"It was really unbelievable," Jim Harbaugh said of that game-ending interception by Lewis, before adding, "and I think Channing Stribling did a great job as well."
Stribling is reserved and mostly soft-spoken. He says he's not "the rah-rah" type on the sidelines and admits that he's playing with the most confidence since he arrived at U-M.
It took awhile, but now he's here.
On the first interception, coming late in the second quarter with Wisconsin desperate to put points on the board before half, Stribling followed his instinct, took a chance, undercut a throw and grabbed his second pick of the season. The first came in the opener against Hawaii -- an interception and 51-yard return for a touchdown.
Stribling's second interception Saturday will likely be forgotten -- because it was upstaged by Lewis only two minutes later -- but was, at the time, one of the plays of the day. With Michigan clinging to a touchdown lead and under four minutes to go, Stribling stayed overtop his receiver and benefitted from a hurried throw by quarterback Alex Hornibrook. Stribling was mobbed by teammates after the interception.
Hornibrook, meanwhile, ducked his head and went back to the sideline. Poor guy. Part of Wisconsin's gameplan was clearly avoiding Lewis. The Badgers rarely tested the All-American candidate, opting for Stribling, the lesser of two evils.
The plan failed famously. In addition to the two picks, Stribling masterfully knocked away a few other passes. He very nearly had a third INT, but dropped one in the first half.
"They were testing him deep and I think he got his hands on four or five balls during the game, which is outstanding," Harbaugh said.
It's also crucial. Michigan's blitz-heavy defense leaves its corners on an island of single coverage, where post patterns and wheel routes are mano-a-mano foot races.
You get beat, you get burnt.
"We man-up 24-7," Stribling said.
Jourdan Lewis and Channing Stribling drew high praise from Jim Harbaugh following U-M's 14-7 win over Wisconsin on Saturday.
So, with Lewis serving as a black hole on one side of the field, quarterbacks do the obvious.
"(Lewis) a great cover corner," Stribling said. "You don't really throw there. He's a great cover corner. But you have to try to find a way to get people the ball."
Which means throwing it at Stribling.
That's proving equally futile.
"That's just his skill set," Lewis said of Stribling's performance against the Badgers. "It wasn't anything special or anything uncharacteristic for him. That's just how he is. That's the player he is. That's the player he's always been since he got here. He's a playmaker."
And now he's making a name for himself, not that Stribling would ever say so.
"I'm just doing my job," he said. "That will all come with doing my job. It's more about the team defense. I don't make plays without the d-line. The d-line doesn't make plays without us covering. The linebackers and safeties are the same way. It's all coming together for all of us."
That's fine, but Lewis will continue to get the cheers and the spotlight. There's only so much to go around.
Meanwhile, on the other side the field, the other guy will keep going to work.
"They tried to test us, just to figure out who is the weak link," Stribling said. "But we didn't really have any."