Maize n Brew Scores Lewis vs. Burbridge Battle (Spoiler Alert: Lewis is talented)
Saw this today on Maize N Brew. The author scores the battle as a clear victory for Jourdan Lewis. Regardless of the score, however, it is clear that Lewis is a special player. Thank goodness we were able to harness that talent during his time at Michigan.
At the same time, I will point out that he is WAY too short for the NFL and clearly needs another year of training.
/s
October 21st, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
Can't Lose.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
Nice. Very obscure reference.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
that show was a cheap knockoff of Saved by the Bell.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^
Yeah it was terrible.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
... it was more trying to be Ferris Bueller. I think it was produced at the same time as Saved by the Bell... i.e. before Saved by the Bell was popular enough to warrent copy cats.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
come on-- white "cool" kid who spends his day trying to keep up his status as "cool", frequent breaking of the fourth wall and adressing the audience directly, high school in California. Although Ferris Bueller was definitely a precursor to both
October 21st, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
Opie Taylor. Skipping class to go to the fishin' hole. Keeping the honeys (Aunt Bea) in check.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
Can't help but think of the Bloodhound Gang song "Hell Yeah" when I hear Opie and Aunt Bea.
[Verse 1]
If I were God there would be no explicit sex on T.V.
Like little Opie eating pie when he made it with Aunt Bee
Permanently scarred
October 21st, 2015 at 11:53 AM ^
To be fair, going to the fishing hole in an old Ferrari 250 GT would be pretty badass. Perhaps Abe Froman himself would be there if you arrived around lunchtime, or indeed, maybe he hasn't arrived yet and you take his place at the hole. The possibilities are endless really.
To the OP's point, of course, I really do believe that Lewis / Burbridge was the best WR / DB matchup that I've seen in the Big Ten in a long time. It was appointment viewing in itself.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
I agree. He should stay for another year in the hopes that he grows 2 inches
October 21st, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
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October 21st, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
As much as his little belly can hold.
October 21st, 2015 at 1:53 PM ^
Not that candy ass 2%
October 21st, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
I think he stays. Another year under NFL level coaches could also be a reason to stick around. I just feel like these guys like how it feels to win here and they'd like to complete the job bringing us all the way back.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
If I told you there is NFL level coaching in the NFL, would you believe me?
He's definitely too small this year, though >_>
October 21st, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
which team are we talking about?
October 21st, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^
I think we have a better coaching staff than them.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
Yeah, but another year of development under an NFL quality staff makes him more appealing as a plug and play player, rather than a talented player who needs to develop. Plus, speaking as objectively as possible, as good as Lewis has been, he's a relatively recent riser in the scheme of things. Another year at this level he could lock up a first round spot, as it is now, I feel like he's probably 2nd or 3rd, maybe lower due to size.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
After a couple of plays on Saturday it looked as though Burbridge was going to get the best of Lewis. But as the game developed, Lewis was plainly getting in Burbridge's head. By the end of the game, it was plain that Lewis was the superior player. Which is saying a lot, because Burbridge is a hell of a WR.
One of the many highlights of Saturday. Thanks for posting.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
It's nice to have more talent in the secondary than MSU.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
Burbridge was 6 of 16 for 106 yards and against Lewis and Lewis was the clear winner, according to the article?
I absolutely agree that Lewis is a great CB and will not face another QB-WR duo like Cook and Burbridge again this season. I also think Lewis has a legit shot at the NFL, but to say he beat Burbridge is a stretch. I mean 106 yards is pretty good.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
They looked at each of his targets, Lewis 'won' 9 times and Burbridge 'won' 6 times.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
Some of those are pretty questionable, as much as Maize n' Brew tried to justify each decision. Looked pretty much dead even to me. 100+ yards is a lot, but Burbridge got a lot of targets as well. Two great players going head to head, like it should be.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^
106 yards is not a lot on 16 targets. That's 6.6 yards per attempt. It's fine; it's workmanlike. It can win you football games if you play good defense, don't turn the ball over, and have an efficient ground game or the luckiest special teams play of the year.
But it's a clear win for Lewis, MnB analysis aside. He had six (!) pass break-ups. Cook was accurate, got the ball to Burbridge, and Lewis knocked it away, repeatedly. On a team with other receiving threats, Burbridge gets 30 yards because the quarterback stops targeting him. The raw numbers look good for Staee, but that's a matter of quantity, not quality.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
Eh, and some of those yards were on uncalled penalty but yes it was a good battle not a, "OMG he had him for lunch".
October 21st, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^
Gotta pay attention to the targets. Burbridge had damn near 20 targets in that game. MSU's offense is designed for the X WR to get the majority of the looks, but that's still too much, considering they do have several playmakers @ the position (Kings did drop several, though).
With that being said, it's pretty much impossible to determine a "clear" winner there. It was pretty much a draw....and it was also the best WR/CB battle I've seen in college football this decade. Not hyperbole. That appealed to everything I love about football and why I miss playing it.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:35 AM ^
If you hold one of the best receivers in the country to sub-50% completion rate on targets...yeah you won. 3 years ago if Stafford threw to Calvin Johnson 10 times and Darrell Revis held him to 4 catches, everyone would be shouting Revis' praises. Same thing here, don't let the bitter taste of losing or final yardage bias your opinion of Lewis' play. Being a 'shutdown corner' doesn't mean allowing 0 yards or completions every game. If you dominate weak-to-average receivers and hold great receivers to less catches than the amount of times they're targeted, then you are a shutdown corner. He got the edge in that battle.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:38 AM ^
"Clear winner" might be overstating things a bit but 106 yards on 16 targets (and no touchdowns) isn't particularly remarkable, especially given that he was MSU's big-play guy. As it turned out, their two biggest pass plays didn't involve Burbridge.
October 21st, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 1:32 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 10:32 AM ^
All things considered, he did very, very well for us.
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October 21st, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 1:40 PM ^
Marshall is faster and more versatile than Thomas, but the latter is the clear-cut #1 WR for OSU. Thomas has been pretty much uncoverable this year, but Cardale hasn't been able to hit him consistently (a lot of overthrown, or underthrow balls that Thomas has to break stride to catch). So far Thomas has burnt every CB he has been matched up against including VaTech's All-American CB Kendall Fuller.
If Harbaugh wants Lewis to go up against OSU's best reciever like he did with MSU/Burbridge, then it will be without a doubt Michael Thomas.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
Two great athletes going full bore at it all day long. Reminded me of Howard and Buckley (FSU), Boston and Woodson, and a few others. The other matchups looked like the JV. Both guys will be playing on Sundays.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
particularly when it became evident that MSU was going to Burbridge so much. The most positive statistical outcome? Burbridge did not score for them.
October 21st, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
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October 21st, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
My mind has blocked out years 2013 and 2014.
Lewis is a JR, so he was around those two years. Help me remember ... was he on the field much, or was he down the depth chart behind Countess and others?
I've read (here and elsewhere) that CB is a position coaches will give to a younger player if he's athletic enough. Was Lewis involved much?
(Getting older and forgetting things is no fun.)
October 21st, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
in the latter parts of 2014.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
He took the starting job from Countess pretty early last year and never gave it up.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
He got on the field slowly and sporadically at first, but always flashing ability. Remember the "apologize to the gypsy" meme Brian created? He was always around the ball and in great position but QB's kept making inexplicably perfect throws against him and getting completions. He was good from the middle to end of last year, and he's taken another step since. He's been great to watch in 2015.
All that said, watching the game from the stands, it seemed Burbridge won the day. Cook kept putting the ball in perfect spots, granted, but Burbridge kept making great catches.
October 21st, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^
Re: your last paragraph ... credit where credit is due: the Cook/Burbridge tandem had a great day; both are great players. Credit Lewis for keeping that aspect of the game in control. He did his job about as well as can be expected.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
It was very frustrating every time Burbridge caught a ball in this game. Not because Lewis did anything wrong, but rather because on pretty much every catch he was in perfect position and Cook just managed to put the ball in the pinpoint perfect spot. In many ways, it was more frustrating than a reception by a hand-wavingly wide open receiver.
October 21st, 2015 at 11:32 AM ^
But in the end it doesn't even matterrrrrrrrrrrrr
October 21st, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 11:36 AM ^
Burbridge was a god damn beast on Saturday. That is a miss that really hurts after Saturday.
Any reason why we didn't double team him after a while though?
October 21st, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^
October 21st, 2015 at 12:27 PM ^