Illinois @ Michigan football preview

Fighting Illini look to get a win in The Big House

The Fighting Illini of Illinois head to the Big House this weekend to take on the Wolverines of the University of Michigan. The Illini are coming off a tough road loss at the hands of Penn State while the Wolverines come in on an emotional high from executing their biggest comeback victory in Michigan Stadium history last week against a very talented Wisconsin team. Michigan also has the past on their side winning 9 of their last 10 dates with the Illini in this Big Ten rivalry.

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It’s been a strange year so far for Maize & Blue. Following the resignation of Lloyd Carr, Michigan hired former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriquez who implemented his spread offense into the Wolverine offense. This lead to Michigan’s highly-regarded sophomore quarterback, Ryan Mallett, to transfer. Shortly thereafter, Michigan lost their season opener at home for the 2nd consecutive year as they fell to now #15 Utah. Then Notre Dame crushed them in a Week 3 match-up. You most likely could have heard a pen drop in Ann Arbor until last weekend when the Wolverines trailed 19-0 midway through the 3rd quarter before pulling off a fantastic comeback against the 9th ranked Badgers of Wisconsin. Michigan only managed 268 total yards from scrimmage but was able to pull the game out in the 4th quarter. Their defensive line came up big against Wisconsin getting pressure on Allan Evridge and shutting down PJ Hill, holding him to only 70 rushing yards on 22 carries. It will have to be the running game that Michigan has to worry about again as the Illini are equipped with the nation’s 15th ranked rushing attack led by Junior, Daniel Dufrene who is averaging 6.7 yards a pop so far this year. This, along with turnovers will be the key to this game. Michigan was guilty of 5 turnovers last week and has 11 turnovers in their past two games. Illinois played the whole way last week with a Penn State team who may be the class of the Big Ten. Ultimately, I feel that Ron Zook will establish a heavy dose of the running game and force a couple of key turnovers against Michigan QB Steven Threet.

Prediction: Illinois 22 - Michigan 17

by Zack Estes
BigTen-fans.com Illinois Correspondent

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