Michigan Fades Fast Against Illinois

I don't know why Darryl Stonum wasn't dressed for the game but playing guys like Zion Babb, Tony Clemons, and Laterryal Savoy is a waste of time.

Throwing to them is an even bigger waste.

Overall Offense Grade: D

Defense

Oh boy, did they look like the classic Michigan defense facing an athletic quarterback or what?

Juice Williams looked like Vince Young, Dennis Dixon and every other spread, running quarterback Michigan has ever faced.

He'll certainly be mentioned near the top of that list after setting the Michigan Stadium record for total yards.

And it wasn't just the run up the middle that fooled everyone; he passed the ball perhaps better than he ever has in his career.

Wide receivers were wide open and he was remarkably accurate. Williams passed for 310 yards and two touchdowns on just 50 percent passing, but the ones hit were incredible, including the 77-yarder that Donovan Warren got burned on.

A lot of people were complaining about Charles Stewart going for the ball on that play, but I have to wonder why Warren was so far behind on the play.

Michigan did a good job of stopping the Illini running backs. None had over 53 yards but Juice ran wild for 136 yards.

Michigan's defensive line put some pressure on Juice, getting 11 tackles for loss. I felt some of them should have been sacks, but none were counted in the official stats.

Jonas Mouton and Obi Ezeh had their names called the most often on the day, with Ezeh leading the way with 15 tackles.

What really killed the defense was the demoralizing touchdown drives that took just four plays each. One was in the second quarter and the other just after halftime.

When you give up long touchdowns in just four plays, it really hits you in the face and takes a lot out of defense.

Still, they needed to play better and not look like a typical Michigan defense facing a spread offense.

I thought after practicing against it for a few months now, they would know what to do and how to handle a quarterback like Juice Williams. Apparently, it's going to take longer for their defense to transition into one that can stop the spread.

Overall Defense Grade: C-

Special Teams

I really held out hope that Michigan might be able to come back on Illinois until a certain moment in the game.

Michigan had just scored a touchdown to pull within 31-20 and then K.C. Lopata whiffed on the point after. It wasn't blocked at all. He just pushed it right and it hit the goal post.

That took all the hope I had out of me. Then Martavious Odoms fumbled a kick return after looking pretty good throughout most of the day.

I thought Michigan had finally found a returner that could hold onto the ball, and then he proved me wrong. However, Greg Matthews looked pretty good as the punt returner.

Zoltan did his thing, including a 55-yarder that pierced the upper atmosphere.

Overall Special Teams Grade: C

Coaching

Rich Rodriguez is fuming right now about Michigan's fumbling woes. After reading a Free Press article in which he said that coaching staff is doing everything it can to fix the problem, I think he's out of ideas.

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