| A couple weeks ago this looked like a surprising major game. Illinois just had to beat a couple of middling Big Ten teams (Michigan State and Purdue) at home, and would roll in at 9-1, ranked in the top 10. Hell, we could be a Michigan win in Columbus away from seeing them rematch two weeks later in Indianapolis. Instead, the Illini dropped both games. The problem isn't so much the offense, which has essentially held up the same pace. But the defense, which had allowed just 42 total points over their previous 6 games (7.0 ppg), with a high of 14 against Minnesota, gave up 54 over those two games. Now they have to go to Ann Arbor to face Michigan in a series that has all but disappeared in the 14 team Big Ten. These two teams have only played twice since 2012. Illinois does have a little bit of history of going into Ann Arbor, and mucking things up for Michigan, at least in the 90s. In 1992, Illinois tied #3 Michigan 22-22, which cost a Michigan team that wound up 9-0-3 a shot at a shared national title. Michigan was 8-0-1 that week, with a trip to Columbus to follow. Sound familiar? The following year, a bad Illinois team upset #13 Michigan in Ann Arbor a week after the Wolverines beat #7 Penn State in Happy Valley. And finally in 1999, Illinois scored 28 unanswered points to erase a 27-7 lead for Tom Brady #9 Michigan, and pull out a 35-29 win, which cost Michigan a Big Ten title. We will see if Illinois plays with more desperation now that they no longer control their divisional title aspirations. Likewise, now that this isn't a showdown between top 10 teams anymore, can Michigan avoid the look ahead? The Maryland win was probably the only game where Michigan didn't look sharp, but they had gotten off to slow starts recently, before pulling away in the second half. Not so last week, as the Wolverines scored the first 14 points, and outscored Nebraska 17-3 in the first half, and 17-0 in the second. Blake Corum continues to put up big numbers, running for 162 yards on 5.8 ypc. His longest run was just 12 yards, he did it by consistently picking up 5+ yard chunks. The only potential issue right now for the Michigan offense is J.J. McCarthy, who has completed under 50% of his passes in back to back games...against Rutgers and Nebraska. If the Illini offense is back in form, and they can get Michigan into 3rd and longs, that might be worth watching. Illinois running back Chase Brown, the nation's leading rusher, not only has to play, but be damned close to 100% for this Illinois offense to have a prayer of moving the ball. It sounds like he is going to play, which I never expected to hear. But it won't be nearly enough. |
