Advertisement
football Edit

Defense Notes: Michigan Turns The Tide With Big Interceptions

Senior cornerback Channing Stribling snared two of Michigan's three interceptions. (Lon Horwedel)

Starting just his second career game, Wisconsin’s quarterback Alex Hornibrook had a daunting task ahead of him, taking on the Michigan defense. The left-handed redshirt freshman made his first start last week in another top-10 matchup against Michigan State, and though he led his team to a victory against the Spartans he was unable to repeat his performance Saturday.

The Michigan defense entered the game with 17 sacks and 45 tackles for loss on the season, good for second and first in the Big Ten, respectively. Against the Badgers the defensive front had another strong day, adding two more in each category — U-M now ties for third nationally with 20 sacks, while its average of 9.4 tackles for loss per contest ranks fifth in the land.

However, it was the defensive backfield that really made life unpleasant for Wisconsin.

Senior cornerback Channing Stribling pulled in two interceptions, bringing his season total to three. Stribling had a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown against Hawai'i in the team’s first game of the season. His second pick of the day came on a crucial defensive series in the fourth quarter, with Wisconsin trying to answer Michigan’s second touchdown with a score of its own.

“I think he got his hands on four or five balls during the game and two interceptions,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “That’s outstanding for a corner, and he tackled. I thought he had a heck of a ballgame, as well. Both our corners really played well today.”

The last time a Michigan player had two interceptions in a single game was 2013, when Thomas Gordon posted a pair of picks against Indiana. Michigan won that game 63-47.

“We know how good [the defense is], and at any given moment they can make a big play,” senior running back Ty Isaac said. “You can just kind of feel it. Sometimes they go on that field and it might be a sack, forced fumble, something. The defense is going to make something happen, and it’s huge for us because you get great field position and keep their offense off the field.”

Not to be outdone, senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis made a spectacular, diving interception in the fourth quarter to effectively end Wisconsin’s hopes of winning the game. The interception is his first of the season and fifth of his career. Despite an outstanding campaign last year, Lewis had just two interceptions in 2015.

“The most impressive thing about it was he jumped a little early,” Harbaugh said. “I was a little nervous he was going to come down and the ball was just going to go over his fingertips. But he was able to hang in the air and come down with it and made a spectacular play.”

Special Teams Fall Short

Advertisement

Coming into Saturday’s game Michigan’s special teams play had been a bright spot for the team. Against the Badgers, however, the Wolverines struggled mightily in that phase of the game.

The kicking game, in particular, was a problem for Michigan. Senior Kenny Allen missed his two field goal attempts, from 31 and 43 yards.

Allen also missed two field goals in the team’s second game of the season against Colorado, and his four misses so far this season match his total number of misfires all of last year.

“I never thought it was ideal for Kenny to do the punting, the kickoffs and the field goals,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a lot. It’s probably too much, and this will be an opportunity for Ryan Tice to step up this week and carry that duty.”

Allen was replaced in the third quarter by Tice, a sophomore. Tice then missed his lone attempt from 40 yards out, though he did make an extra point after Michigan’s second touchdown.

Michigan couldn’t get a spark from its return game either, which had routinely provided great field position (and sometimes points) so far this season. The Wolverines entered the game leading the conference in punt return average, and individually junior linebacker Jabrill Peppers was No. 1 in the Big Ten and third in the country in that category.

Though Peppers was averaging 22.7 yards per return, he was unable to generate good starting field position for his team, running back two punt returns for a total of just 19 yards.

Miscellaneous Notes

· Wisconsin came into the game averaging 20.3 snaps per game more than its opponents. On Saturday, Wisconsin ran 53 plays to Michigan’s 76.

· With six tackles, senior linebacker Ben Gedeon led the Wolverines in stops for the third straight week.

· Michigan held Wisconsin to 71 yards rushing. The Badgers had rushed for at least 12o yards in each of their previous four games.

Advertisement