Usually, this is the time of year when bodies are aching.
The college football season is more than halfway over, and as the games get tougher, it only makes sense that players start to feel the effects. But for Jourdan Lewis, this year has been different.
“I was getting thrown at a lot (last year), but it just seems like they go at me every once in a while now,” Lewis said Saturday. “Probably just once a game.”
The result is a fresher feeling at this time of year for Michigan’s All-American senior cornerback.
Lewis missed the season’s first three games with an injury, but the other reason he feels so fresh right now is more about what’s happened when he’s on the field. After he said he was targeted only one time against the Fighting Illini, Lewis said his body feels much better after games now, and with decreased snap-by-snap dependence, it’s easy to understand why.
“The trainers came in and joked with me a little bit (after the Rutgers game),” Lewis said Monday. “They told me, ‘I don’t even know why you’re here, man. You played a quarter and a half.’ ”
Really, this benefit extends to the Wolverines’ whole secondary. Right now, Michigan has had the fifth-fewest passes attempted against it nationally with 164. The first-ranked team, Florida, has 140, but has also played one fewer game.
That means that either no one wants to throw at Michigan, or no one has been able to — and the answer is likely both.
When opponents have thrown on the Wolverines, it hasn’t exactly been a fruitful endeavor. Michigan is allowing just a 40.9 completion percentage this season, second-lowest in the country behind Florida. The Wolverines have picked off seven passes, which is one more than the number of touchdown passes they have allowed.
Somehow, those numbers are even uglier against Michigan’s cornerbacks. According to Pro Football Focus College, opposing passers are 11-for-39 when targeting receivers covered by Lewis or senior cornerback Channing Stribling. The two have allowed a total of 131 yards with zero touchdowns and have racked up four interceptions.
And all of that is when those quarterbacks can get their throws off. For as little as opponents decide to pass against Michigan, there’s also the matter of what happens when they do.
The Wolverines have 25 sacks through seven games, and that’s to say nothing of plays where quarterbacks are forced to throw the ball away or run out of bounds. So while it’s easy to point to Lewis’ dominance in coverage as the reason his targets have lowered, the cornerback offered another explanation.
“I’m telling you,” Lewis said Monday, “The defensive line is so good, I can’t even tell you if that’s me, really.”
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have two corners as good as Lewis and Stribling.
Lewis’ success has been well-documented, but Stribling is having a breakout season of his own. He has three interceptions, including one touchdown, numbers that may soon make quarterbacks think twice about throwing his way, too.
And if they decide to go to the other side again, Lewis is ready for that. As it turns out, covering receivers who don’t get thrown to leaves Lewis wondering when his few chances will come.
“It’s not so much bored, it’s just like anxious, you want to know when your next play is coming,” he explained. “Every time you’re in there, it’s not so much, ‘Oh my god, when are they going to throw at me?’ I’m just like, ‘Oh my god, this could be it, this could be it.’ ”
But most of the time, it isn’t.