![4p37mSd4_thumb2]()
PUNT
PUNTBy Bryan MacKenzie
Ah, Homecoming. That annual tradition when we see the return of long-lost friends who look only vaguely familiar.
"Wait, don't tell me... Illinois, right? Oh, man, good to see you again. How's things with Tim? Still good? Oh... sorry to hear that."
This year's edition may be a nostalgic throwback in several ways. The last time Michigan played Illinois was 2012, when the Wolverines threw Tim Beckman a 45-0 farewell party. The last time Jim Harbaugh stood on the opposite sideline from Illinois was 1986, when he quarterbacked the Wolverines to a 69-13 hamblasting of the Illini. The last time he faced off against new Illinois hear coach Lovie Smith, Harbaugh's 49ers defeated Smith's Bears 32-7 in the game that saw the emergence of Colin Kaepernick as a starter. And the last time Harbaugh coached a game at Michigan Stadium, Michigan State was 2-1 and ranked in the top 25. My, how time flies.
On the other side of the ball, there's a good chance that Jeff George will be under center for Illinois. Not That Jeff George, of course. Not the two-year starter at Illinois who went on to be the #1 overall selection in the NFL draft before pissing off everyone he came in contact with in the NFL. That Jeff George played two games against Michigan, getting outscored 62-19. No, this year's edition is his son, Jeff George, Jr. George the Younger is a redshirt freshman who was a two star greyshirt, and who has yet to see any real action. But now, with Wes Lunt questionable with a back injury (he missed the Rutgers game) and Chayce Crouch questionable with a shoulder injury (he could barely physically throw a football against Rutgers), George may be throwing the first passes of his collegiate career in the the Big House into a Don Brown defense.
So, all things being equal, history would seem to favor Michigan. But oh, good sweet galloping ghosts, nothing about this game is equal. Illinois is coming off a game in which they were outgained by Rutgers. The week before that they lost to Purdue, a team that fired its head coach eight days later and is PURDUE. They are giving up the most yards per pass in the Big Ten. They haven't won multiple road games in a season since 2010. And their backup quarterback this week might be a guy they moved from defensive back... this week.
Michigan, meanwhile, has been an absolute sower of destruction on defense.
- They're in the top 5 in the country in most of the fancystats, including the top overall defense in S&P+ by an unfathomable amount.
- They're #1 the country in scoring defense (10.3 points per game).
- They're #3 in yards per carry allowed (2.86).
- They're #1 in yards per pass allowed (4.6) by more than half a yard.
- They're #1 in total yards per play allowed (3.58) by more than half a yard.
- They're #1 in 3rd down conversions allowed, and have only allowed 10 first downs ALL SEASON.
Oh, and they are also #2 in the country in scoring at 50 points per game.
If you average the scores of those four games I mentioned above, you get something that seems fair, if even generous, to Illinois under the circumstances. But above all, Homecoming is a time to honor the past. Michigan 52, Illinois 10.
COUNTERPUNT
by Nick RoUMel
Michigan and Illinois have had some memorable games. Mostly because Illinois isn’t always aware they’re supposed to suck, and they come in to the Big House to do noble battle. Sometimes they win, others they fall a tad short.
1981 – The Illini were 5-3 and loaded for bear against the 6-2 and 12th ranked Wolverines. They scored the first three times they had the ball behind all-Big 10 quarterback (and future New England Patriot) Tony Eason, roaring to a 21-7 first quarter lead.
Michigan went on to win 70-21. LOL.
1992 – The unranked visitors battled undefeated and #3 Michigan to a 22-22 tie. The Wolverines fumbled ten times, losing six.
1993 – Playing for a second consecutive year in Michigan Stadium, 26-point underdog Illinois stunned Michigan when Simeon Rice stripped Ricky Powers of the football in the final minute and the Illini drove for the touchdown to win 24-21.
1999 – Led by Tom Brady, the #9 Wolverines were supposed to have an easy time against unranked Illinois, and led 27-7 in the 3rd quarter. Illinois stormed back to win 35-29.
2001 – The last time both teams were ranked when they met, #17 Michigan defeated #21 Illinois 45-20. Despite the loss, the Illini won the conference, but lost to LSU in the Sugar Bowl.
2010 – Michigan’s 67-65 triple overtime victory was the highest scoring game in the history of the Big Ten - and indeed thrilling to watch, in sort of an icky way - especially when you realized afterwards that we gave up 8 more points in that game than Bo Schembechler’s defense gave up in the entire 1972 football season.
2012 – All was right with the world as a loaded Brady Hoke roster shut out Illinois 45-0 behind my all-time favorite Wolverine Denard Robinson. After that game, Hoke’s record at Michigan stood at 15-4. From that point forward, his teams went 16-16 before his inglorious firing.
2016 – Illinois is supposed to suck. They are a 28-point underdog to the #3 Wolverines. They sport two wins: against Murray State (the only college named after an accountant) and a truly woeful Rutgers squad.
On paper, today’s game is as bad a match as Man O’War vs. Upset. You remember this 1919 horse race, of course. It’s the only contest Man O’War lost in his career, to a 100-1 underdog, that gave us a name we still use 97 years later to describe a shocking, unexpected loss.
Illinois is no stranger to being an underdog. (Another language lesson: underdog and top dog come from dog fighting, referring to the relative position of the winner and loser.) The Illini have come into Michigan Stadium before, fearless and irrepressible, and shocked the Michigan sports world. Whenever the odds makers count them out, the Illini rise like ... like ....
... Nah, I just can’t do it. Brian, dude, I love you; but you just don’t pay me enough.
[ed note: fact]