Lewis vs Woodson: whose iconic INT was better?

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

  • Rivalry game vs Top-15 team on the road
  • One handed, dynamic grab where he left the ground like a rocket 
  • Got the one foot in bounds

  • Game-clincher
  • vs Top-10 team at home
  • One-handed, backhanded
  • Flew through the air for 5 yards, almost floating
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Mr. Elbel

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:35 PM ^

(trigger warning on the upcoming wall if text:) except not really. you're just saying that because it's msu. but in reality, the score was 13-7 (we won 23-7), and that int didn't even lead to points for us. we didn't get to 20 until woodson's 2nd int of the day set up Howard for the game-sealing TD. so in the game itself if anything all it did was continue building on the momentum we already had. in lewis' case, it won the damn game. as far as it being a more important game, I understand it was a rivalry game, but it wasn't the biggest of the year, and not even the 2nd biggest of the year. in fact, I'd argue that colorado, iowa, psu, osu and maybe even Wisconsin as a trap game were bigger games. msu was ranked but fell off the rails and finished 7-5 that year. it was big for rivalry's sake but not the biggest by a long shot. Whereas this year, osu is our biggest game, msu is probably 2nd biggest but the way they're going it's probably not going to be close at all. they won't be ranked when we get to them. so this game is the 2nd or 3rd most important on the regular season schedule, despite not being a rivalry game. you can't just say woodson's is better in context while also ignoring the context. it's difficult though because we know the context of woodson's whereas we're 5 games into this season. the actual big picture of the catch will become clearer later.

Joined: 03/02/2014

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LSAClassOf2000

October 2nd, 2016 at 2:23 PM ^

Someone said it above, but that was going to be a nothing kind of play that he denied to MSU. That, and the sheer athleticism of that jump and the resulting catch just stands out more.

Joined: 01/07/2011

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WolverineHistorian

October 2nd, 2016 at 2:31 PM ^

In a celebration of one handed catches, I'll throw in two more even though they were touchdowns instead of interceptions...

Jordan Lewis:

 

Marquise Walker:

 

Jason Avant:

 

But Woodson easily still wins.  How a human being could make that catch is still beyond me.

Joined: 08/10/2009

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Blue in Denver

October 2nd, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^

Woodson picked off a pass the QB was intentionally throwing out of bounds!  Everything about the play had to be perfect, from the timing of the leap, to the ability to leap that high, to the one-handed catch, to the body control to get a foot inbounds.  He did it before the crazy sticky gloves were availble.  He did it on the road, at a rival.

JD badly mistimed his jump.  It was athletic as hell to catch it anyway, but you don't get extra credit for screwing up the first part.  Plus he actually hurt his team (slightly) by catching it instead of batting it down.

JD's play was amazing to see, but in my opinion it's not even in the same league as Woodson's pick.

Joined: 02/11/2013

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BlueMetal

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:34 PM ^

Had that fallen incomplete, the team would've been in better position. But I've seen some pretty fluky plays in my years watching football and if Lewis bats that ball and it goes up in the air or bounces off his knee into the air and somehow ends up in the receivers arms, that's likely a TD. At that point, even if we had to punt again, the odds of winning the game were extremely high with the way that defense was playing. So yes it would have been better to knock it down but I'm ok with the INT also.

Joined: 03/15/2013

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Mr. Elbel

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:46 PM ^

the "should have knocked it down" crowd keep forgetting auburn/UGA from 2013. also, getting the ball at the 8 to run out the clock is not necessarily better than the 45. did anyone see our red zone play yesterday? what on earth makes you think we'd get 8 yards in the red zone? and why does it matter. Harbaugh coached it perfectly, using his timeouts to eat up every second and running long developing plays to eat more clock. we wound the clock out. it wouldn't have mattered where we were on the field.

Joined: 03/02/2014

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Durham Blue

October 2nd, 2016 at 8:20 PM ^

"why does it matter?"

 

Let me preface this by saying I'm ecstatic that we won.  But batting the ball down MAY have mattered for covering the spread, i.e. it matters for the gamblers.  We won by 7 and the spread was 10 to 11.  And I certainly like the chances of Michigan scoring a garbage time TD from the 8 yard line much better than from the 43(?).  OTOH, make the damn field goals and we're probably not even having this discussion.

Joined: 10/09/2008

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Mr. Elbel

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

I think this debate is missing the one thing we can't know yet...what happens this year? woodson's is remembered for its greatness as an individual play by what many here consider to be the GOAT college football player, but it's also in an NC year. I really think that if we get to the playoff and win the whole thing this year, we will all look back to lewis' grab as a definitive play this season that contributed more to that happening than just about anything else, and that alone may elevate it in a lot of people's minds. I do believe woodson's is better, but if this play becomes a catalyst for us making the playoff and winning an NC, I'll be at odds with myself I think as to which play is better.

Joined: 03/02/2014

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Mr. Elbel

October 3rd, 2016 at 1:02 AM ^

why does how old I am have anything to do with anything? it is a game changer because had he not caught it, there's a great possibility Rushing does. how do people not understand this? if he catches that ball he's gone and we either lose on a 2 pt. or go to OT. also....I'm 24, and I'll get off your lawn. right after I crap on your porch.

Joined: 03/02/2014

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CoverZero

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^

This question is like "who is the better guitar player?" or "which one of my kids is my favorite?"

There are no answers to these type of questions as the subjects in question are not competing with each other.

Both INTs were amazing in their own way.

Its a Tie.

 

Joined: 08/30/2014

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BlueMetal

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:30 PM ^

Can we get that Lewis gif slowed down a bit. Wow that was impressive. Charles still gets the nod but since I was young and didn't see the Woodson INT until years later in highlight style, the Lewis INT will always be one of those plays that I just never forget.

Joined: 03/15/2013

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Mr. Elbel

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^

except if he doesn't make that play the receiver had a play on the ball and was in stride. If he catches that, lewis takes himself out of the play by jumping and no safety is close. it's a potentially game tying or even winning TD. not exactly meaningless. knocking it down may have actually made it an easier catch as it could have kept going instead of being a simple PBU (see auburn v. UGA from a couple years ago).

Joined: 03/02/2014

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milhouse

October 2nd, 2016 at 3:50 PM ^

It was a rivalry game. They were trying to throw it away. He caught it while falling out of bounds and was able to get a foot in. Jourdan still has a couple big games to try to top him, though.

Joined: 05/29/2010

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wolverinemayhem

October 2nd, 2016 at 5:34 PM ^

Lewis' interception was amazing, but honestly if he would've timed the jump better, it would've been an easy pick. Woodson's catch was pretty much textbook perfect. Both were insane catches, but Woodson's is still better...

Joined: 10/10/2015

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UMProud

October 2nd, 2016 at 7:19 PM ^

I don't think one is "better" than the other....both are different and exemplify freakish levels of athleticism.  Mere mortals could never do what either of these guys did.  They're both iconic and part of Michigan lore & DNA.

Joined: 12/18/2014

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Ronswanson13

October 2nd, 2016 at 7:21 PM ^

In terms of pure catches and ignoring all other factors, Woodson's is more impressive to me. Lewis' was spectacular, but I still struggle to this day understanding how Charles snagged that. It's remarkable to me.

Joined: 02/11/2016

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JamieH

October 2nd, 2016 at 8:24 PM ^

Lewis's interception is impressive mostly because he totally botched things up.  If he had kept running and jumped at the right time, it would have been a run of the mill INT because of his good coverage.  Now, he still made an incredible play, but as someone upthread said, you shouldn't get bonus points for screwing up and then recovering.


The Woodson play is something I've NEVER seen ANYONE else do.  Maybe someone can produce video of it, but I've never seen it.   I've never seen a QB-OOB-throw-away picked off before or after that day. 

Joined: 09/05/2009

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drzoidburg

October 3rd, 2016 at 4:44 AM ^

I heard on a replay someone said Lewis should've just knocked it down and the offense gets it at the 5. Honestly, it can't be iconic since it was 4th down, game over Yeah, he jumped a bit early, but the coverage and the catch itself was hard to top and i thought of the Woodson INT too, just in those terms and it looked similar. But i have to agree with Carr's reaction at the time - Woodson's remains "the finest interception I have seen"

Joined: 09/20/2015

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MGoblu8

October 3rd, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^

Neither one looks real on film, and both were incredible displays of athleticism, but I have to go with Woodson. He took a non-play and turned it in to an iconic play. It was like hitting a homer on an attempted intentional walk pitch outside the other batter's box. "How did he do that?" "Don't know. He just did it."

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