Observations on the win over Illinois, 42-25
Michigan converted 7 red zones visits for 28 points; Illinois converted two red zones for 14 points. Each team had two turnovers each; the Wolverines scored 7 points off the Illini miscues while Illinois gained 8 points. Only 37,000 on hand to watch the battle.
Offense gained 25 first downs, and 489 yards on 70 plays with 295 on the ground. Shea Patterson hit 11 of 22 for 194 yards and 3 TDs to Luke Schoonmaker, Nick Eubanks, and Donovan Peoples-Jones; he was 5 of 12 in 3rd and 4th down conversions, and ran 5 times for 17 yards and a TD. Patterson was not sacked today, and was rarely hurried. Ronnie Bell caught 3 passes for 98 yards. Nico Collins and Erick All did not play against Illinois. Hassan Haskins had a breakout game with 125 yards on 12 carries for a TD. Zach Charbonnet gained 116 yards on 18 carries for a TD, but also coughed up a fumble for a turnover. Tru Wilson gained 46 yards on 10 carries, but fumbled away another seocnd half drive with a turnover. Christian Turner had one carry for -4 yards, and fumbled, but the review ruled that he was already down. Ben Mason took a totally unnecessary red zone late hit that ended a drive in a field goal attempt that was missed instead of a touchdown; it also set off bad feelings from Illinois for the rest of the afternoon which precipitated more unsportsmanlike penalties on both sides. Stanley Green led the Illinois defense with 12 tackles; he forced a fumble, and recovered two fumbles.
Illinois gained 17 first downs, 256 net yards on 72 plays with 64 on the ground; they were 4 for 15 in 3rd and 4th down conversions. The defense forced Illinois into 8 punts and 2 turnovers. Matt Robinson hit 16 of 25 passes for 192 yards and a TD; he ran 11 times for -16 yards after 4 sacks, but he scored a TD. Josh Imatorbhebhe had 5 catches for 102 yards and a 23 yard TD. Dre Brown ran 8 times for 39 yards and a TD. Jordan Glasgow and Cameron McGrone led the Wolverine defense with 11 tackles each; Glasgow also had a fumble recovery plus a blocked punt. Brad Hawkins had 7 tackles. Josh Uche had 3 sacks two other tackles; all five combined for 27 negative yards. Ambry Thomas had 3 pass break ups. LaVert Hill did not play due to injury so Vincent Gray got the start; Kwity Paye also did not make the trip due to injury.
Special Teams were hot and cold; the highlight of the day was a punt block by Jordan Glasgow that resulted in a red zone TD in the second quarter. Quinn Nordin missed an easy field goal; Harbaugh didn't use him the rest of the day as a result. Ronnie Bell and Donovan Peoples-Jones made numerous poor decisions on punt returns that cost significant field position losses. Will Hart punted 3 times for a 44.3 yard average with a touchback; there were no Illinois punt returns. Jake Moody had 7 kickoffs with 3 touchbacks; Illinois had two returns for 38 yards. We had one punt return of 3 yards, and a 20 yard kickoff return by Michael Barrett and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Time of possession was almost even; Illinois was penalized 10 times for 95 yards.
This team is very difficult to watch because they are so poor in many phases of the game! Today, they showed they are better at running the ball; however, they also showed how disgustingly lousy they are in ball security with several more fumbles. The defense started strong, but in the final minute of the first half, and in the 3rd quarter, they allowed a poor Illinois squad to move the 4 score lead of 28-0 to 28-25. To put this in better perspective, keep in mind that Illinois is a team that lost to Eastern Michigan earlier this year, and they were without their starting quarterback due to concussion protocol; we should have clobbered the Illini, 50-0. We are halfway through the season, and this team has been practicing now for 11 weeks, and we still see loads of similar and new mistakes each game; this is not a good football team, and should not be ranked by anyone in the Top 25 nor should it be called a contender. Instead, this team is a pretender. It is not well-coached, and this coaching staff doesn't do a good job adjusting during the game; they are regularly outcoached by other staffs. Our players are not intense enough mostly because our coaching staff is not intense enough; the exception to that is Don Brown who is always intense.
