Thrillinois

His name is Mercilus. Hopefully someone can block him.

Michigan plays Illinois in a battle of struggling squads.  Michigan is 1-2 in their last three and the Illini have dropped their previous three games.  The Big Ten says "wahoo to that, let's make it the 3:30 game!"

Three Things to Watch for on Saturday

1) Illinois offense, do they have any?

The Fighting Illini have been really struggling to move the ball this season.  To me, this is terrifying since they scored over 60 points against the Wolverines last season in the Big House.  Michigan's defense is clearly improved, but Illinois has had a bye week to work out some of their kinks and will probably also have some new wrinkles installed for Michigan.  After losing three straight, coming off a bye, and playing at home, Illinois is likely to give one of their best efforts of the season.


2) Can Denard break a few big runs?

Robinson, for whatever reason, hasn't run much in the previous few games.  I'm not sure if he's nicked up and suffering from some sort of injury that we don't know about or if it has been a coaching decision to have him run far less than he was in September.  I do see him not looking as explosive and decisive in the running game as he's looked in the past, but he's still the most dangerous weapon Michigan has on the ground and his yards per carry bear that out.


3) Turnover Battle

This could be somewhat of a defensive battle and in those games turnovers and special teams make the difference.  The offenses need to be aided by a short field or a defensive or special teams score. Since turnovers come with a giant variance, who knows who has the edge here.  Hopefully it goes to Michigan.

Prediction

Home field advantage is important.  Illinois is playing in their backs against the wall type situation.  They are also coached by Ron Zook.  Those first two things scare me, the third brings some comfort.

20 - 17 Illinois