The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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great potential has started to jell. There had been only one big play in the passing game through three games, a 53‑yarder in the UNLV game against a blitz. "That's football," Harbaugh said in acknowledging the great throw and catch over junior safety Delano Hill's head in the fourth quarter. Junior Jourdan Lewis has shown signs of becoming one of the Big Ten's best cover corners. Lewis shook off a touchdown thrown over his head and a second‑quarter concussion against Oregon State to notch four passes broken up against UNLV. He was tied for the league lead in passes broken up with Ohio State's Vonn Bell, having notched six through three games. "He's not afraid to cover anybody," Michigan secondary coach Greg Jack‑ son said. "He's an aggressive corner, and we're trying to get all our other guys to play that way. He's got a fire within him, almost like [redshirt freshman] Jabrill Peppers. He and Peppers are the same two guys." Figuring out Peppers' best position was one of Durkin's challenges in the fall, and it's still a work in prog‑ ress. Peppers came into his own in the second half against Utah, notch‑ ing two tackles for loss in breezing past blockers, and there will be more challenges for him as the nickel back against some of the passing offenses coming up. "He's going to be a game changer and a game saver on defense as it pertains to long runs," former Michi‑ gan safety and current Big Ten Net‑ work analyst Marcus Ray said before U‑M faced UNLV. "His ability to be versatile, play corner, nickel and safety, make plays in space, blitz, drop back and under‑ neath coverage … he can do a lot of different things. Peppers has caught my eye the most of any of the guys out there. "Being that there haven't been many interceptions, I'm not overly impressed by the group or any one individual in particular. But I think Jabrill has shown flashes of poten‑ tial to be great when you look at his quick twitch and his ability to make plays in space." It's been an ongoing discussion among the staff about where to play him, Durkin said in August. "He's great about whatever we ask him to do," the coach said. "He does it 100 miles an hour. He doesn't ask why or how or what about this … he just goes and does it, and he's very talented." The concern heading into the sea‑ son was about the "other" corner, whoever it ended up being. Fifth‑ year senior Blake Countess seemed to leave a void when he opted to spend his last year at Auburn, but Clark has improved significantly since making the move from safety. Junior Channing Stribling has also made strides — he intercepted a first‑ quarter pass and broke up another one against UNLV in arguably his best game in a Michigan uniform. "When you create turnovers the whole stadium goes crazy, the coaches go crazy," Stribling noted. "It's a great feeling when you make a play and the whole team and the