Raise your hand if you had November 26 on your mind as you turned on the TV today to watch Michigan vs. Illinois. Raise your hand if your thoughts have mostly been concentrated on The Game, on Ohio State's defense and their great receivers, on the stakes of a vaunted 11-0 vs. 11-0 clash. Raise your hand if you have booked hotel rooms in Indianapolis just in case and have been scheming up CFP scenarios. If your hand is raised, you are in the same boat as Michigan Football, who rested key starters on injury precaution, rolled out a vanilla game plan, and were late to adjust when things got tight. Michigan seemingly did not respect the hungry, desperate, violent, and well-coached Illinois Fighting Illini across from them until it was nearly too late, taking shots to the mouth and staring down the specter of an undefeated season slipping away before a clutch fourth quarter- boosted by three massive FGs from Jake Moody- turned the tide and got them a victory. It was ugly, but a win is a win. 

The funny thing is that the game did not seem like it would be a nail-biter early... or really for the entirety of the first half. The first drive of the game for Michigan was exactly how they drew it up, with a Blake Corum 37 yard run getting things going. JJ McCarthy got in rhythm, three passes to get Michigan inside the ten and then the Wolverines bully-balled their way into the end zone for Corum's 18th TD of the season. Just like that it was 7-0. After Michigan forced a three-and-out on Illinois' opening possession of the game, this game seemed to be on track for another comfortable win. 

Wind played a factor in this game and with the wind at their backs, Illinois was able to pin Michigan inside the five for the second series. That didn't matter much at first, a brilliant RB screen to Corum on 3rd down picked up 41, and could have gone for more if Corum had not gone out of bounds. Michigan drove into Illini territory but then ran out of gas after two Corum runs were stuffed. Rather than lining Jake Moody up for a long FG into the wind, they punted. Brad Robbins delivered a dismal punt (the wind played a role) for just 19 yards. 

[Patrick Barron]

Still, Michigan was in command. Their defense muzzled Illinois quickly for another three-and-out and their third drive got out to midfield before stalling. Roman Wilson couldn't come down with a catchable ball, a pass was too high for Max Bredeson and pressure forced McCarthy out of bounds. Michigan punted again but were only able to get Illinois down to the 20 yard line. The Fighting Illini started to get going on this drive, Chase Brown finding more running room on the ground and Tommy DeVito finding his groove drove Illinois into Michigan territory but it was their turn to see a drive unravel. Isaiah Williams caught a pass just short of the sticks and Illinois decided to go for it on 4th & 1. Michigan trotted out a pair of true freshman DTs in Kenneth Grant and Mason Graham and the duo stuffed Brown on the attempt, forcing a huge turnover on downs. 

Michigan was unable to capitalize on the solid field position due to an extremely questionable holding call on a great passing play from McCarthy to Roman Wilson and the ball was quickly back in the hands of Illinois, where the offense picked up where it left off. Illinois began to use tempo more heavily and the higher pace allowed them to land a few body blows on the Michigan defense. Chase Brown was running hard, Isaiah Williams flashed as an end-around specialist, and DeVito continued his strong day. Those three powered Illinois into the red zone and the team lined up to go for it on 4th & 1 from the 6. Unfortunately a false start negated the opportunity and they settled for a FG to cut the deficit to 7-3. 

The home team got the ball back with 4:03 remaining in the first half and had their best drive since the opener. Corum was churning out yards on the ground and McCarthy threw a strike to Ronnie Bell into a hole in Illinois' zone defense (one of their few zone snaps all day). It was 2nd & 10 on the Illinois 17 when Michigan gave the ball to Corum, who cut outside, around the corner, and then took a direct helmet shot to his left knee. Corum visibly reacted instantly, causing him to drop the ball just before hitting the ground. Replay officials determined that it was a fumble and Illinois had recovered, in part due to the Michigan players stopping to look after their teammate in screaming pain. Not just had Michigan lost its superstar RB for (essentially) the rest of the game, but they had turned it over inside the 15. 

Illinois got the ball back with 1:38 remaining but a holding penalty prevented any chance of a two minute drill. Set to get the ball out of halftime, Bret Bielema was content to run the clock down and head to the locker room trailing 7-3. Though the game was competitive at halftime, most Michigan fans were more concerned about the health of Corum than about losing the game. As it would turn out, their fear on the former turned out to be somewhat unfounded, while their lack of fear about the latter was glaringly absent. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More recap]

[Patrick Barron]

There was good news out of halftime, as Corum returned to the field and took warmups. Illinois went three-and-out on their opening series of the half and Michigan would give the second play from scrimmage on offense to Corum. He rushed for 5 yards and got a rousing cheer from the crowd. However, that would be the last we'd see of Corum, donning a large winter coat and taking his helmet off for the remainder of the game. The Michigan drive in progress turned out to be a solid one. One play after the Corum rush, McCarthy found Cornelius Johnson open for a first down on a long catch-and-run into Illini territory. Three plays after that, McCarthy had Andrel Anthony running open on a fade, but could not put the ball where it needed to be. Michigan settled for a 46 yard FG, which Moody banged through. 10-3. 

The next ten minutes is when this game turned upside down, from one that felt annoyingly close but Michigan was clearly better in, to one that had your author tweeting "Illinois is the better team". So what happened? Illinois embarked on two drives that spanned 67 and 63 yards and both found the end zone. For the first time in the entirety of B1G play, Michigan's defense was worse in the second half. The defensive line was getting shoved around for the first time all season, Tommy DeVito was dealing to somewhat open receivers, and LB play was as bad as it's been in a month (didn't help that both Jimmy Rolder and Kalel Mullings saw time during this stretch). The first drive ended on an 8 yard Chase Brown TD run that seemed to be an indictment of tackling, but it was actually the less embarrassing of the two drives. The second ended with Brown galloping 37 yards for a TD. 

In between the two Illinois drives, Michigan had a solid drive of their own, linked together by an Isaiah Gash screen pass that went for 20 on third down. They marched into Illini territory but increasingly found no running room on early downs. Just in the way that their defensive line was getting whipped in the trenches, so was the offensive line. The Wolverines set up to go for it on 4th & 6 from the Illinois 37. McCarthy thought that Illinois jumped across the line prematurely (it sure looked close in real time) and assumed it was a free play. He bombed it down the field, perhaps his best throw of the day, perfectly placed between two Illinois defenders in a place that only Andrel Anthony could catch it. If he hauls it in, it's a TD. Instead, it went right through the hands and fell incomplete. To add insult to injury, the referees never threw an offside flag and it was a turnover on downs. 

[Patrick Barron]

Thus, when Brown scored his second TD of the game, the score sat at 17-10 Illinois. Michigan got the ball back, ran it once for one yard, had a pass broken up, and then McCarthy scrambled short of the sticks on third down. Punt. The fourth quarter was about to begin, Illinois would have the football up 17-10, and at that juncture, they seemed to be the better team. They were winning the battle in the trenches, were getting better play from WRs and QBs, and seemed to be better coached too. Just 15 minutes remained in the contest and for the first time all season, Michigan's backs were against the wall. 

The fourth quarter would see both teams get three possessions. Illinois turned it over on downs once and punted twice. Michigan got points on all three (all FGs). That was when the game was won and lost. Michigan's defense got it going, with DJ Turner making a great PBU and then a bad snap helping Michigan get off the field on a three-and-out. The offense got favorable field position following a terrific punt return from Ronnie Bell, taking it all the way to the Illini 38. A quick pass to Colston Loveland got the Wolverines into FG range and though that would be the only first down they'd get on the drive, it was enough for Moody to boot a 41 yarder through. 17-13. 

Illinois got the football and moved the ball decently well, a WR screen picking up a first on 3rd & 3, then Gemon Green curiously playing with tons of cushion despite Illinois not being a vertical passing team giving up another first down. Illinois decided to try their one deep shot of the game and it fell incomplete, which was followed by a run stuff. On 3rd & 8 from the Michigan 33, a screen for Brown was blown up by Rod Moore and Bielema was faced with a major decision. Going into the wind, it was too long to kick a FG and rather than play for field position, he played to win. Unfortunately for Bert, his LG Isaiah Adams was not in sync with the snap count and was late getting going, allowing Taylor Upshaw to tear into the backfield. DeVito was forced to scramble and DJ Turner came down to make an undefeated season-saving tackle short of the line to gain. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Michigan was now gifted favorable field position again. Colston Loveland was the first target and he ran for 27 yards after the catch, well into Illinois territory. A few plays later on 3rd & 8, McCarthy fumbled the snap, picked it up juuuuuust barely with his knees off the ground, rolled to his right and found Cornelius Johnson for a massive first down. The Wolverines would find themselves in 4th & 5 not long after and Michigan ran a brilliant man-beater play to Roman Wilson for a first down bringing them to the 14 yard line. On 2nd down, McCarthy rolled and had both Isaiah Gash and Loveland open. Loveland would've been a sure TD while Gash likely would have been able to catch and run for at least a first down, if not a TD. McCarthy targeted Gash and the RB dropped it. On the very next play Loveland was open for a TD again but McCarthy could not feather the pass to him. A day of what ifs. Moody made a short FG and the score sat 17-16 with 3:14 left. 

Michigan had all three timeouts in their pockets and Illinois was content to slam into the line twice in a row, setting up 3rd & 7 with the game on the line. DeVito again decided to try and scramble for the first, coming up one yard short. The referees threw a flag for holding too, and Michigan interestingly accepted the penalty to back Illinois up. Bielema predictably ran it again and waved the white flag. Michigan used their final TO and the punt into the wind would be downed just past midfield. 

The Maize & Blue offense needed only ~25 yards to get Moody into FG range and had 2:15 to do it. After two short yardage gains, Michigan decided to run CJ Stokes on 3rd & short and like nearly every between the tackles run in the second half, it was stuffed. Now the undefeated season was on the line, 4th & 3 from the Illinois 45. Michigan spread out wide, ran a variation of the ole pick play to get Isaiah Gash open, and McCarthy hit him for a first down. McCarthy then looked for Bell down the field and drew a DPI call, 15 yards moving Michigan well into Moody's range.

[Bryan Fuller]

Two plays later McCarthy threw a marginal ball to Cornelius Johnson, who made a diving catch over the middle for five yards. Michigan ran up to spike the ball, which would then set up a FG as it was 3rd down, but before they could, the referees stopped the game to review it. Though some expected an overturn, the replay officials upheld the call and Michigan got one more play. McCarthy dangerously threw a ball that was batted at the line but it fell incomplete. With under 15 seconds left, Moody lined up for a 35 yard field goal. The snap was good, the hold was good, and the kick was good. 19-17 Michigan, 9 seconds remaining. 

Illinois let the kickoff go into the end zone and DeVito completed a pass to Brown for 14 yards, being tackled with 1 second on the clock. They used a timeout to set up a Hail Mary but DeVito's arm (and the wind) meant the pass was nowhere near the end zone. It fell incomplete around the Michigan 20 and the game was over. Michigan had survived. Perfect season intact. 

This game was messy and wild but it was a win. The offense had a topsy turvy performance, excellent against a great defense before Corum's injury (just done in by a bad luck turnover and poor field position luck), but then sputtered after Corum exited. Their OL mashed early and then had little success late. Illinois stacked the boxes and dialed up blitz after blitz, daring Michigan to go through the air against their solid corners in man coverage. It was a taste of Don Brown's medicine so to speak and the Wolverines had trouble with it. McCarthy made some mistakes, but his day also looks very different if Andrel Anthony and Isaiah Gash catch those footballs. Yet again, he did not get enough help from his receivers. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Corum's injury will be a big story in the week leading up to The Game. That he came back and played another snap is a good sign and the hope has to be that he was rested for precautionary reasons like Donovan Edwards, Luke Schoonmaker, and Mike Morris. On the defensive side of the ball, Michigan generally played well except for those two humiliating drives. Nearly 40% of Illinois' yardage for the game came on those two possessions and otherwise they didn't have too much daylight. To give the Illini credit, DeVito played one of his best games of the season and Brown is a hell of a player. They are a well-coached, tough, physical football team who is not one you can disrespect. Michigan tried to get by going vanilla and resting everyone who wasn't 99.9% healthy. They very nearly paid a massive price. 

On special teams, Jake Moody was the MVP. On a cold and windy day that many college kickers would've crumbled in, he made four FGs, three of them moderately to quite difficult kicks and one being for the game. He has ice in his veins and is one of the best kickers to ever wear the winged helmet. Brad Robbins on the flip side had a disappointing outing, whether it was the wind or something else affecting him, he was part of the reason Michigan lost the field position battle in the first half. 

The Wolverines are now 11-0 for the first time under Jim Harbaugh and for just the third time in the past 50 years, joining 1997 and 2006. One of those teams beat Ohio State and won a national title and one of those teams did not. Those are the stakes now for the Wolverines. No matter how rickety they were today, it doesn't erase a season's worth of work showing that this is a very good football team. Ohio State happens to be struggling against Maryland at the time of this writing. Neither team was thinking all too much about their opponents today. They were both thinking about The Game. That's next Saturday at noon on FOX. A game to decide the season. Beat Ohio.