Ten Things I Thought Would Happen For Michigan Against Illinois
Michigan was a massive 22.5-point favorite heading into the road game against the Illini, which seemed to indicate that the Wolverines would do whatever they wanted. It started out according to plan but went off the rails a bit in the third quarter. I made some specific predictions on how the action would look on Saturday and did about as good as you'd expect in a weird game.
Player Predictions
Joe Milton will play in the first half — MISS
This one didn't happen and probably was never going to since redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey was on the sideline and in uniform. It didn't seem like McCaffrey was going to be ready, but apparently he is. Regardless, senior quarterback Shea Patterson never came off the field as U-M's quarterback yesterday.
Erick All will record a catch — MISS
This one was really never going to happen as All didn't even make the trip to Champaign due to injury. We had no idea that the freshman was hurt and also didn't expect senior tight end Sean McKeon to play, but he did. Instead of All making his first career catch, backup tight end Luke Schoonmaker made his second, which was a 25-yard touchdown and his first score.
Zach Charbonnet and Christian Turner will both score a touchdown — MISS
I was close here but picked the wrong running back. Charbonnet scored as did redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins, while Turner barely played. For whatever reason, Turner didn't see the field in the first half and only carried the ball once on the day. The running back rotation has been very strange and doesn't seem to have any continuity from week to week.
Aidan Hutchinson will record a sack — MISS
The Michigan defense racked up four sacks but none of them were by Hutchinson. The big sophomore did record a tackle for loss but never got ahold of the Illini quarterback.
Ambry Thomas will be involved in another turnover — MISS
I was also close on this one but Thomas didn't bring his best set of hands with him to Champaign. He broke up several passes but could never quite reel one in. As for fumble recoveries, Michigan secured two but Thomas was not involved in either of them.
Team Predictions
No Michigan quarterbacks will throw an interception — HIT
Patterson was the only Michigan quarterback to play and he was clean throughout. He finished just 11 of 22 for 194 yards but he threw three touchdown passes and did not turn it over.
Michigan's defense will record at least three sacks — HIT
Senior Josh Uche actually achieved this by himself with three sacks and senior Mike Danna chipped in with a sack of his own. It wasn't the eight-sack performance we saw against Iowa, but four against an Illinois team that likes to get rid of the ball quickly and use the QB in the run game is still respectable.
Michigan will never trail — HIT
The Wolverine defense forced a three and out to start the game and the offense didn't waste time getting on the scoreboard. After four straight runs by freshman Zach Charbonnet, Hassan Haskins came in and scored from 29 yards out. The lead ballooned to 28-7 by halftime and, even though Illinois made a game out of it heading into the fourth quarter, U-M was on top all day.
Michigan will keep Illinois under 13 points — MISS
With a 28-7 lead at halftime and Illinois struggling mightily throughout the first half, Michigan looked like they might be able to really limit the Illini, but a clunker of a third quarter allowed Illinois to climb back into it and ultimately score 25 points. It seemed like U-M's defense had a chance to pitch a shutout but credit the Illini for fighting until the end.
Michigan will cover the spread — MISS
Again, Michigan had a 21-point lead at the half making it seem like a 23-point win was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, a weak effort heading into the half and a terrible third quarter allowed Illinois back into the game. The end result was a 17-point win for the Wolverines.
What stuck out to you about the predictions? Do you think Michigan should've fulfilled more of these? Comment below!!!
