The Struggle Is Real
Suppose you didn't watch Michigan's 42-25 win over Illinois on Saturday. Took the day off for a wedding or yard work anticipating this would be a Wolverine runaway.
And then after the game, when you grabbed the box score before checking the final score, you saw the following numbers:
- Illinois only averaged 3.6 yards per play.
- Illinois was only 3-of-13 on third down.
- Illinois' star running back, Reggie Corbin, was held to just 14 yards on nine attempts.
- Illinois only averaged 1.5 yards per rush.
- Illinois was assessed more penalty yards (95) than it had rushing yards (64).
- Michigan out-rushed the Illini by 231 yards.
- Michigan had two backs each rush for over a 100 yards.
- Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson had three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
- Michigan averaged more than 17 yards per completion.
- Michigan's defense had 12 tackles-for-loss while its offensive line didn't allow a single sack.
- Michigan even blocked a punt.
What would you think the final score would be? Certainly more than the eventual 17-point margin of victory. And you definitely would not believe the game was imperiled in the fourth quarter after the lowly Illini scored 25 unanswered points.
You'd be surprised, sure, unless you've been watching the 2019 Wolverines. For if there's one thing this season has proven midway through the year, it's that making things as absolutely hard on themselves as possible is what this maddening Michigan football team does best. Yes, the Wolverines are 5-1, but unless you count Rutgers (and you shouldn't) they haven't left Michigan fans feeling better about the team after any of these games.
Every game has included some form of existential drama. At least a few "WTH" mutterings. Left us with many more questions than answers. Which, by the way, is not where you want to be with perhaps the toughest second-half schedule in the country looming.
Other than fumbling, exactly what does this Michigan football team do consistently well?
Just when you thought the defense had turned a corner came the third quarter in Champaign. When not only was tackling optional, but Michigan wasn't even sure it wanted to line up properly most of the time. The Wolverines made Illinois' tempo look like it was Lincoln Riley, not Lovie Smith, coaching the other team. Because nobody just strolls into vaunted Illinois Memorial Stadium and makes the Illini look competent.
But, hey, let's cut the Wolverines some slack. You can't blame them for losing their composure in front of a daunting crowd of fewer than 38,000 fans. Half of them in maize and blue.
However, just as Michigan likes to implode right when you start feeling confident, the Wolverines also tend to rise up right as we're about to tap out.
They did it in double overtime against Army. They played with more polish than we ever thought they would against Rutgers. They beat Iowa at its own preferred rock fight. And after taking Illinois' best punch, and I can't believe I just wrote that, Michigan scored 14 quick points to put the game back out of reach.
It's hard to envision a scenario these Wolverines could come out of a Penn State white out next weekend with a win, but maybe that's exactly why they will. For aside from the Wisconsin game, which we all pretty much knew going in they were going to lose, Michigan game day tends to be opposite day.
They struggle when you think they'll cruise. They overcome one weakness we were worried about, and then a strength we thought we had identified suddenly goes MIA. When they win, they don't even do it in a way any of us anticipated.
These Wolverines are setting us up for something. Either a rare November to remember around here, or a spleen removal. Your guess is as good as mine.
