Woodson never ceases to amaze us

EAST LANSING - Charles Woodson's head was spinning so quickly it was amazing that he had time to stop and talk.

Then again, talking has never been much of a problem for the All-America cornerback, whose gift for gab competes pretty darn well with his gift for grabbing opposing quarterbacks' passes.

Woodson completely stole the show, not only on the field with his two interceptions - one that was legendarily acrobatic, the other as a result of his impeccable pass coverage - but off the field as well, with his talented mouth after the game.

Woodson was dishing out verbal blows to the Spartans' collective ego that were almost as vicious as some of his four solo tackles on the field. But the tackles somehow lacked the comical aspect of Woodson's postgame chatter.

"I think their coaches ought to keep a better tab on what they say to the press," said Woodson, referring to Michigan State's trash-talking in the week leading up to the game. "They were saying a lot of things this week and we were just taking it al

WARREN ZINN/Daily Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson intercepted this Todd Schultz pass in the third quarter with one hand. Woodson got one foot down just in time to stay in bounds.

l in. This is the type of game where you don't need any extra fuel to the fire."

But even without the trash-talking, there was already a red flag surrounding this game for Woodson as a result of his last visit to Spartan Stadium. The junior almost certainly had this game circled on his calendar as far back as two years ago.

In 1995, as a freshman, Woodson and Michigan lost to a less-talented Michigan State team on the Wolverines last trip to East Lansing, 28-25. The loss hurt Woodson particularly because as the Spartans were driving the field for the eventual winning touchdown, the usually sure-handed and timely playmaking Woodson uncharacteristically let an interception slip through his hands and into the Spartans' Derrick Mason's.

"Two years ago, we came up here and it was one of those things that you can't describe, the feeling after the game, the loss," Woodson said. "I had a play in that game where had I came down with the interception, we would have had the victory. I didn't make that play.

"Today, I wasn't going to let that happen to myself, I wasn't going to let that happen to the team."

To see to it that there would be no catastrophic ending for Michigan, Woodson simply took the game over on defense in the second half.

His first interception, a historic one-handed grab that resembled someone plucking a frisbee out of the air, truly silenced the predominantly pro-Spartan crowd simply out of awe.

"I think that has to be the best interception I've ever made," Woodson said. "Especially coming against Michigan State, it was a big play for me."

Then, on the first series of the fourth quarter, Woodson thwarted a Michigan State drive with another interception as he snuck up from behind Spartans' receiver Octavis Long on his left and picked off his second pass of the day.

"They threw the same play to the other side and I was kind of insulted that they tried to get me on the same play twice," said Woodson, in true form.

In fact, it was the first time since Michigan's season-opening victory over Colorado that a team actually challenged Woodson through the air, to which he responded, "I think so and I think it was the wrong move."

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said that the second pickoff was responsible "for a big momentum shift" in the game, as Michigan went ahead and scored five plays later to take a 20-7 lead.

"The greatest players have their greatest games in their biggest games," Carr said. "Charles Woodson was motivated because two years ago, he had the worst game of his career here. He was motivated to play the best game of his career."

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