FORMATION NOTES: There will be no marveling about how passive the opponent was this week. Illinois did not have a single standard down in which they were not +1 in the box. Their three DL barely left the field, and it was cover one about 70% of the time. Against one TE Illinois responded with a pretty standard 3-4 look:

When Michigan went with two TEs in the box Illinois usually responded with a 6-2 formation with a linebacker folded inside one of their OLBs:

There is a safety off screen on both these snaps. Illinois would occasionally stem into cover two, and occasionally send that safety who's off screen down either presnap or just before it; usually his job was to clean up anything that popped outside of contain, allowing the Illinois defense to collapse on the interior run game.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Welp. Keegan out again so El-Hadi started; Barnhart maintained the starting job at RT. Jones got in for some goal line plays. I think he's healthy and they're just rolling with Barnhart. Schoonmaker out again so Loveland was TE1 with Honigford and Bredeson mixing in as blockers, mostly. Hibner got his first non-garbage time reps in a while.

WR pretty much the usual. No Edwards at RB and Corum went out near halftime, leaving Stokes, Dunlap, and Gash. Stokes got the most run early but by the time it was crunch time they were using Gash, apparently because they think he's their best option out of the backfield.

[After THE JUMP: stiffer resistance]

Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M25	1	10	Pistol FB twins	1	2	2	4-3 under	9	Run	Power GHH	TE*	Corum	37
Power with Bell added to the equation so three guys pulling across the formation. Hayes(+2) and Hongiford(+1) combo through a DE and Honigford climbs to a linebacker; DT gets thoroughly blown out by Hayes. Zinter(+0.5) and Loveland(+0.5) both get kickouts; Bell heads outside and takes a LB with him, leaving a free hitter. Corum(+3) threatens outside and then shoots up in the Hayes lane, dusting that free hitter with his change of direction. He then dusts the safety; JJ(+1, run) then does his Iowa thing and gets out for a lead block that gets him blown up… but Corum strangely goes OOB. He will do this again more consequentially.
O38	1	10	Pistol TTB	1	2	2	Base 3-4	8	Pass	Out	WR	Bell	16
Man beater pulls Bell(+1) across the formation and runs him on an out, forcing Weatherspoon to bend around Johnson’s route. Weatherspoon comes up hard and Bell is able to dodge him to pick up a chunk of YAC. Not going to RPS this because the room here is such that if Weatherspoon plays this conservatively it’s like 5-8 yards. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 1/1)
O22	1	10	Pistol 3-wide	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7.5	Pass	Out	N	Bredeson	4
Bredeson in slot, runs out, completion, minimal gain. Seemingly done to say HEY WE DON’T MOTION THIS GUY INTO THE BOX LITERALLY EVERY TIME. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 1/1)
O18	2	6	Pistol 3-wide	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7.5	Pass	TE drag	TE	Loveland	11
Here will be a theme: when a guy gets motion away he converts into a blitzer. Here El-Hadi(-2) picks up a guy slanting across his face into Olu’s territory and a guy zips through; Olu does a great job to get over and harass him, JJ might be able to step up here. He does not because he’s already decided where he’s going, and that’s to Loveland, who just runs through a chuck(route+) and beats his guy. (CA+, +1, 3, protection 0/2)
O7	1	G	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Inside zone	N	Corum	4
Barnhart(-1) gets extended off of and his guy sheds to the gap. Zinter(+0.5) got a chip and extends to a LB; Olu(+1) is in a stalemate at first with that guy; then Corum ends up running into the side of these guys and NT tries to disengage to tackle and gets driven downfield. That plus Corum’s grinding(+0.5) creates a solid gain in the context.
O3	2	G	Ace twin TE	1	2	2	Goal line	10	Run	Split zone	N	Corum	1
Bell the split blocker with Loveland(-1) oddly hopping inside of Honigford for a moment and then redirecting to an OLB. This gives the OLB time to approach the LOS and convinces Corum that the gap between Loveland and Bell is not there. Olu(+1) and Zinter(+0.5) put the NT on the ground but Barnhart(-0.5) again gets shed and that gap gets filled; Corum has to go behind into a mess for one.
O2	3	G	Goal line	1	3	0	Goal line	11	Run	Dive	N	Corum	2
Zinter(+0.5) and Jones(+0.5), in as a bonus OL with Jones inside of Barnhart, FWIW, blast a guy who tries to swim past them into the endzone. That is the motive force for the pile to lurch in.
Drive Notes: Touchdown, 7-0, 11 min 1st Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M3	1	10	Pistol FB Big	1	3	1	6-2 eagle	9	Run	Split zone	N	Corum	1
Barnhart(-1) shed again with a DT getting into the gap that has the double from Zinter and Olu; this time those guys can’t really root out the NT but they don’t get to double long because of a charging LB. Corum has to cut back and the free hitter gets him at the LOS. RPS -1.
M4	2	9	Pistol 2TE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	8	Run	Split zone	TE	Corum	3
DE is coming down pretty hard to take on the split block and this could easily be a keep but it probably is not live. M blocks this fairly well but again free hitter at two yards, RPS -1. Loveland(+1) gets big movement on a LB; Bredeson(+0.5) gets a kick; Hayes washes a guy down; Corum picks through it to the gap, which is filled by a guy M cannot account for.
M7	3	6	Gun 3-wide	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7	Pass	RB screen	Jet	Corum	41
CB to the boundary goes with Bell; man. Loveland(+2) first engages with the guy covering him then comes off of him and shoves Corum’s guy over. El-Hadi(+0.5) gets enough of Loveland’s guy so he can’t replace and then Olu(+1) gets on his horse to block the safety. Corum is outrunning the safety and then inexplicably steps out of bounds(!?!?) What do I do with this? -2? (CA, +1, screen, RPS +3). Rare +1 on a screen because JJ has to fit this between a bunch of hands and is able to put this on a line with a pump fake.
M48	1	10	Ace TTE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	8	Run	Yakety snap	N	N/A	-2
JJ -2.
M46	2	12	Gun TTB	1	1	3	Base 3-4	6	Run	Power GT	WR	Stokes	17
House sent with all six guys in the box charging. Barnhart(+0.5) and Zinter(+0.5) are able to hit two of the blitzers; Hayes(+1) stays attached to a DE who dives inside of him and washes him out. El-Hadi(+0.5) escorts a guy down the line as well; Stokes(+1) rips through an arm tackle and there’s no second level. FH got lost looking up McCarthy but was also charging and wasn’t really in position to help anyway. RPS +1, got a pass blitz and chunked it.
O37	1	10	Ace 3TE	1	3	1	6-2 eagle	9	Pass	Waggle comeback	TE	Anthony	Inc
Waggle, flat covered. Loveland(route-) stumbles getting out of his break and is not available, so you've just got a comeback route for Anthony against Witherspoon, which he breaks up. This could/should be interference as Witherspoon is clearly there early and wraps his arm around Anthony. (CA, +0.5, 0, protection N/A) Got a video.
O37	2	10	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Power GT	N	Corum	1
This has got to be a pull(-1, ZR-) as the unblocked SAM is turning his hips and won’t recover. Also the left side of the line appears to call this wrong and Olu(-2) does not block down on the backside DE, who flies upfield; Hayes(+1) has to block him across, forcing Corum behind this. Corum gets chased away by the DE but this is on the verge of working in Michigan’s favor because Barnhart(+1) got a lot of depth on his block and Corum is about to pop out to the outside here when he gets ankle-tackled.
O36	3	9	Gun 3-wide	1	2	2	Base 3-4	8	Run	Split zone	TE	Corum	-1
Run on third and nine meets run stunt on third and nine. Olu(-2) blasted into the backfield and shed. If he can just wall this guy off Zinter(+1) made a nice adjustment to block the looper… and actually Corum’s just going to eat FH. RPS -2.
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-0, 5 min 1st Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M37	1	10	Ace TTE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	8	Run	Pin and pull	N	Stokes	3
Barnhart(-1) gets run by upfield by a DT; Hayes(-1) doesn’t cut off a backside guy; Stokes(+0.5) has no choice but to bounce. Playside end fights his way inside of Zinter(+0.5) so there’s a bounce available; this is intentional as Illinois is shooting down their FS and using him to contain. Stokes can’t make him miss.
M40	2	7	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Drag	WR	Bell	6
Zinter(-1) gets yanked by a push-pull and JJ gets some pressure so he just dumps it to Bell. Bell does not look for the ball until it’s right on him for some reason and almost drops this. Wilson was open on a deep out but not a whole lot of time to get there. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection ½)
M46	3	1	Gun TTE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	9	Run	Dive	N	Corum	0
Straight up zero here, you’d think this could be a shot down, but M just plows it up the gut. DE slants over into Zinter and stalls him out; LB replaces behind him. This gets almost all the way so I’ll just leave it as a push.
M46	4	1	Gun TTE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	9	Run	Dive	N	Corum	1
Same play, same result.
M47	1	10	Ace 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	9	Pass	PA post	WR	Wilson	Inc
PA, dropback, again pure zero from Illinois. Max pro with just two guys in the route; Wilson has some separation and JJ throws it; it’s a little high and a hair behind but very much in the CA realm; goes through Wilson’s hands. (CA, +1, 3, protection 2/2)
M47	2	10	Gun twin TE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	8	Pass	TE cross	WR	Bredeson	Inc
No PA, all day in the pocket for McCarthy; this one he does airmail. (IN, -1, 0, protection 3/3)
M47	3	10	Gun trips	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Pass	Scramble	N	McCarthy	3
Blitz gets through up the middle as Olu(-1) and El-Hadi(-1) fail to ID and pick up a LB twist. JJ bails out of the pocket and gets the corner but Loveland’s guy comes up and forces him OOB. His head was around a long time here and he’s making a decision to get OOB based on a guy leaving Loveland so he should be able to see and flip it to his TE. (BR, -1, N/A, protection 0/2)
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-0, 1 min 1st Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M36	1	10	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Flare screen	N	Corum	-2
Hibner(-2) just runs by the playside SAM to go to the CB. Woof. (CA, +0, 3, screen)
M34	2	12	Gun trips bunch	1	1	3	Base 3-4	6	Run	Pin and pull	N	Corum	5
5-1 from Illinois so the free hitter is not an ILB but a SAM away from the play; Michigan blocks this up and can get a good gain. Barnhart(+0.5) washes a guy down; El-Hadi(+1) finds a SAM who’s slanting down the line and seals him in; Hayes(+1) gets a powerful kick and Johnson(+0.5) harasses a corner. This is going to be 7-8 but Corum(-1) loses his feet and falls down.
M39	3	7	Gun trips	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Pass	Improv	N	Wilson	37 (Pen -10)
Five man pressure with a stunt in it that Michigan picks up. Edge guy gets around Barnhart(-1) but slips to the ground and the edge opens up; JJ rolls out and this time when the DB comes up he flips it over the dude to Wilson for a huge chunk gain. A horrendous holding call on Zinter brings it back(refs -3). (CA+, +1, 2, protection 2/3)
M29	3	17	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Penalty	False start	N	N/A	-5
Very frustrating here as Illinois is running guys on and off and is about to pick up an illegal sub penalty; JJ claps for the ball and everyone moves but Olu(-1) does not snap it.
M24	3	22	Gun twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	8	Run	Pin and pull	N	Corum	9
Give up and punt.
Drive Notes: Punt, 7-0, 8 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M25	1	10	Pistol FB	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	9	Run	Power GHH	TE*	Corum	9
Illinois crashes this and wants to spill it to their playside LB, which they do, but the addition of Bell(+1) gives Michigan a blocker for that guy and Corum(+0.5) bounces out for a solid gain. Honigford(+1) blew his guy down the line, FWIW. RPS +1.
M34	2	1	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Zone stretch	N	Corum	0
Trap from the corners so they have force here and the backside end can just flow hard; a pull here probably works for first down yardage but not live. Slant from the DL into this means no gaps; I can’t really judge whether any of these blocks are good enough or not because Corum stops, dodges the DE, and then gets eaten up by pursuers. RPS -2.
M34	3	1	Gun twins	1	2	2	Base 3-4	9	Run	Split zone	TE	Corum	2
Zinter(+0.5) gets a massive chip that ejects a DT; Barnhart(+1) drives is guy one on one and M converts.
M36	1	10	Ace TTE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	8	Pass	Waggle pivot	N	Bell	Inc
PA, rollout. Flat covered; Bell is running a pivot and Witherspoon is all over this. You could argue for a flag here but this never coming out, IMO; dude just makes a bad-ass PBU. Even if our other WRs are a little wobbly I don’t get why were using Bell as the primary option here instead of running him deep and having anyone else run this route against Illinois CB #4. (CA, +0.5, 0, protection N/A)
M36	2	10	Pistol twin TE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	8	Pass	Arc counter	Jet	Corum	25
Bell jet motion across, looks like split zone. DE fires down again; Loveland passes him up and the angle Corum takes gets him past the LOS before anyone can react. Loveland(+1) gets out and kicks the LB; Corum into the secondary. Corum(+1) able to dodge a couple tackles and tack on another ten. RPS +2.
O39	1	10	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Stop and go	N	Bell	22
Illinois shows man and aborts into trap two, with the outside CB sitting down. Bell(route+) has a weird kind of hitch step that sort of looks like aborting a hitch into something deeper; he runs past the trap CB and then JJ hits the cover two hole shot. (DO, +2, 3, protection 1/1)
O17	1	10	Gun trips TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7	Pass	PA TE throwback	N	Loveland	Inc
Barnhart(-2) does not read the Illinois blitz either when the LB shoots outside or the DE slants away from him. Loveland is staying in to block momentarily before releasing; he releases and his guy goes directly to JJ because Barnhart is doubling that DE. JJ has to hurl it off his back foot at a covered Loveland and misses long. This may be an intentional overthrow. (PR, +0, 0, protection 0/2)
O17	2	10	Pistol 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Arc counter	N	Corum	4
Jeez, they see this once and the next time it comes out they’re all over it. Loveland arcs around the DE but DE shoves him and makes Corum bend. Anthony(+0.5) cracks playside LB. DE gets in an ankle tackle, Corum almost breaks it, Loveland can't get to the CB, knee contact, Corum drops ball before contact with the ground, reviewed and overturned. RPS -1. I’m not going to neg this fumble for obvious reasons.
Drive Notes: Fumble, 7-3, 1 min 2nd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M48	1	10	I-Form Big	1	3	1	6-2 eagle	9	Run	Down G	N	Stokes	2
Hibner(-2) just runs by the DE on the LOS and does not try to combo or chip him; Hayes(-1) also goes vertical and this guy swims outside but he’s got to be expecting help. DE in the backfield now and Stokes has to cut back. He’s got a bit of room because Barnhart(+0.5) got in a cut and Olu(+0.5) drove his guy down the line.
50	2	8	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Power GH	TE	Corum	5
This eats a corner blitz. Zinter(+0.5) pulls tight and picks a guy up. Hayes(+0.5) stays attached when his guy dives inside and washes him down the line a bit. Corum(+1) is able to rip through the CB tackle, spin off a second guy, and grind out a chunk. RPS -1.
O45	3	3	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	PA hitch	WR yo-yo	Johnson	14
Bell motions across the formation and then doubles back; ILL CB in motion is completely boned by this as he’s not looking at Bell. M now 2 v 1 to the field and JJ just has to pick the guy who Witherspoon isn’t on. That’s Johnson, catch and run. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 1/1, RPS +2)
O31	1	10	Ace TTE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	8	Run	Split zone?	TE*	Stokes	3
I think this is supposed to be split zone with Bell as the split blocker but they mistime this and Bell hits JJ. M manages to grind out a few as Honigford(+1) gets a lot of depth and Hayes(+1) also gets his guy two yards off the LOS. Bell(-1) manages to block a charging LB but it’s in the backfield after the screwup and that allows a corner to fill and forces Stokes away from the nice blocking into some mess.
O28	2	7	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Drag	N	Loveland	Inc
Well, take your pick of issues here. Illinois entirely declines to cover Hibner and he’s the guy running underneath two crossers on mesh so if you expect man coverage this should almost certainly be the first read. JJ instead throws it to Loveland and airmails it. (BRX, -2, 0, protection 2/2)
O28	3	7	Gun trips bunch TE	1	1	3	Exotic	7	Pass	Fade	N	Anthony	Inc
Anthony delays his release until Johnson can rub his guy and gets open by a couple yards; JJ misses him badly. (IN, -1, 0, protection 1/1, RPS +1).
Drive Notes: FG(46), 10-3, 11 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M25	1	10	Pistol twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	8	Run	Power GT	N	Stokes	7
Hayes(-1) gets rocked back and controlled by a DE; he gets fired back into the gap and there then is no gap. Zinter(+0.5) gets a kick and Stokes(+1) first burrows into the backs of his OL and the bursts outside, catching a lucky break as a ILL LB glances inside at the wrong moment. Witherspoon absolutely lights him up on a no YAC tackle.
M32	2	3	Gun TTB	1	2	2	Base 3-4	9	Run	Power GT	N	Stokes	-2
Another corner blitz. El-Hadi(-2) doesn’t see it and runs by a DE. Hayes(+0.5) does see it and stops to do something about but the SAM is in his business immediately and shoves him back; no gap, El-Hadi guy TFLs, RPS -1.
M30	3	5	Gun trips TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7	Run	Split zone	TE	Stokes	9
M finally catches a normal ass run D and gets a nice gain. Loveland(+0.5) in motion and blocks off an OLB. Hayes(+1) washes down a DE; Honigford releases to a LB; Stokes(+0.5) finds and hits the gap hard.
M39	1	10	Pistol twin TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	8	Run	Split zone	WR	Stokes	-4
Bell motion, Witherspoon converts to backside blitzer as they anticipate that this motion is supposed to empty that side of the field. TFL, absolutely no shot for Loveland to do anything about it, RPS -3.
M35	2	14	Ace 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	8	Run	Pin and pull	N	Gash	4
Wow: second and fourteen, ILL says ok zero coverage run blitz, M runs into it. S blitz allows Illinois to slant away and absolutely shock the OL; Barnhart(+1) does a good job to come across and follow his man and get a chunk of him. El-Hadi(+0.5) in the way of another DT upfield; Gash finds a little gap. RPS -1. This is verging on absurd.
M39	3	10	Gun 3-wide	1	2	2	Exotic	7	Pass	RB screen	WR	Gash	20
Motion again, this time the CB carries. Loveland(+0.5) picks off the guy in man on Gash and El-Hadi(+0.5) gets in the way of the other guy in the vicinity. Gash grabs it and goes up the sideline until whacked. (CA, +0, 3, screen, RPS +2)
O41	1	10	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Pivot	WR	Bell	Inc
Slant into an out for Bell and ILL buzzes the slant; Bell will have a catch and run opportunity but JJ throws it well wide. (IN, -2, 0, protection 1/1, RPS +1)
O41	2	10	Pistol 2TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	8	Run	Arc read give	N	Stokes	1
Massive missed read (ZR-, -2) from JJ here as Loveland doesn’t even have anyone to dodge at the LOS because the EMLOS is creeping inside. This has to be a pull. Has to. Instead a handoff up the gut with the free safety again shooting down to give this virtually +2 in the box and then you spent a TE on your arc so it’s +3. Blocking is mostly fine but El-Hadi(+0.5) and Hayes(+0.5) can blow a guy off the ball a bit and ILL just has free hitters to either side.
O40	3	9	Pistol FB 3-wide	1	1	3	Exotic	5	Run	Arc read keep	Jet	McCarthy	3
Well F. They finally get a good pull here and Bredeson(-2) IDs the same guy to block as Bell does. JJ gets chased wide and ILL rallies. FFS. ZR+, +1.
O37	4	6	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Exotic	6.5	Pass	Fade	N	Anthony	Inc
Clap from M, Illinois jumps, dude puts hits foot in the neutral zone, no call, close but refs -2. M thinks it has a free play so JJ loads up the deep ball to Anthony. This is not an ideal ball but it ‘s very much in give your guy a chance land… in fact Anthony can just run under this and catch it without even jumping, and the ball goes right through his hands. Woof. (CA, +1, 3, protection 1/1)
Drive Notes: Turnover on downs, 10-10, 2 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M25	1	10	Gun twin TE	1	2	2	6-2 eagle	8	Run	Inside zone	WR	Stokes	1
Another motion-induced blitz from the boundary corner. Barnhart(+1) recognizes it this time and picks it off; Zinter(-2) does not, allowing a SAM through almost clean. Honigford(-0.5) and Hayes(-0.5) get split by a stunt and those guys meet at the RB. El-Hadi(+1) got a nice one on one block to prevent a DT from making this a TFL.
M26	2	9	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Drag	N	Bell	Inc
ILL drops into a zone here and JJ should come off the drag; he does not. Bell sits down against the zone, which he should, and JJ throws it wide of him because he is not reading zone. Bell can only get a hand on it. Wilson or Stokes were better options. (IN, -1, 1, protection 1/1)
M26	3	9	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Scramble	N	McCarthy	3
A three man rush here and the pocket is clean. JJ makes a bad decision to take off. (TA, -1, protection 1/1)
Drive Notes: Punt, 10-17, 1 min 3rd Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
O38	1	10	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	TE deep out	WR yo-yo	Loveland	12
This is just a go win route for Loveland(route+), who powers through a jam and then gets separation just past the sticks. Timing and accuracy of this pass from JJ is near DO territory but not quite. (CA, +1, 3, protection 2/2)
O26	1	10	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Pivot	N	Anthony	Inc
Six man rush mostly picked up; Zinter’s guy gets a little push but not too bad. That guy is able to bat down a decently open pivot route to Anthony. (BA, -0.5, 0, protection 2/2)
O26	2	10	Pistol trips	1	2	2	Base 3-4	6.5	Pass	RB screen	N	Gash	-4
There are some individual failures here but this is getting buried by four guys. Loveland(-1) passes up a DL for a LB and then misses; Barnhart(-1) tossed to the ground; Zinter has no angle to block the guy Loveland didn’t really delay. But also RPS -2.
O30	3	14	Gun trips	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Pass	Scramble	N	McCarthy	7
Four man rush with a sim blitz; this gets picked up but JJ bails. I am not a huge fan of this; there’s no pressure here and you’re not getting the first down. OTOH this is a useful number of yards to shorten the field goal and nothing immediately pops out as a better idea. So. (MA, +0, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: FG(39), 13-17, 12 min 4th Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M31	1	10	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	TE drag	N	Loveland	27
Mesh versus what looks like mostly man coverage and a couple droppers, but nobody runs with Loveland. JJ waits until he clears the dropping DE and lays it in. (CA, +0..5, protection 1/1) Uh… RPS +1, I guess since this is mesh vs man and Hat -2.
O42	1	10	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Zone read keep	N	McCarthy	1
McCarthy pulls correctly(ZR+) but once he’s out on the edge he needs to commit the DB outside and then cut vertically and live with whatever happens; instead he just runs outside and wastes it. IMO Bell(-2) is the problem where with the blocking as he looks up the player who is critical and runs by him; Wilson is running a fake bubble and is always in tough once Bell passes up the more dangerous guy. JJ(-1 run) should cut it up even so but does not.
O41	2	9	Ace	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7	Run	Inside zone	N	Gash	1
El-Hadi(-2) gets ripped to the ground by a DE. Barnhart(-1) lets his guy through as well.
O40	3	8	Gun 4-wide tight	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Pass	Improv	WR	Johnson	11
The fumbled snap play; JJ is able to rescue it by picking the ball up and rolling out and it looks like the guy covering Johnson starts running up after JJ once he sees the ball on the ground. JJ finds him for the conversion. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 2/2)
O29	1	10	Gun trips TE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Hitch	WR	Johnson	5
Mesh versus an eight man zone drop. Tons of time, not really anywhere to go. JJ finds Johnson for an okay gain. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 1/1)
O24	2	5	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Run	Power GT	N	Gash	1
LBs shifted over this; DE slants away a bit and Hayes(+0.5) controls him. Zinter(+0.5) gets a kick. Barnhart(+0.5) gets through the gap and finds the overhang S; Loveland(-2) airballs on a linebacker.
O23	3	4	Gun 4-wide	1	1	3	Base 3-4	6.5	Pass	Back shoulder fade	RB flare	Johnson	Inc
Blitz off the corner gets through clean and while the RB motion has taken the only LB out of the picture Michigan has no time to get to Loveland on a slant; JJ fires out a ball on which it looks like he’s throwing a hitch while Johnson is running a go. (Not charted, 0, protection 0/2, TEAM -2)
O23	4	4	Gun 4-wide	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Pass	Flat	WR	Wilson	9
Motion across the formation, Wilson’s guy hesitates, oddly, and will have to get through a million bodies to get to this. He doesn’t, wide open conversion. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 1/1, RPS +1)
O14	1	10	Ace TTE	1	2	2	Base 3-4	7	Run	Lead zone	TE*	Stokes	-1
Well, Michigan picks up the motion induced Witherspoon blitz. Unfortunately this means the MLB is completely unblocked. There’s a double from Honigford and Hayes that Michigan has to not deploy, because if El-Hadi gets off his guy it’s just a different unblocked guy up the gut. Stokes gets buried. All the blocks get made, though? El-Hadi(+1) whips his guy. RPS -2.
O15	2	11	Gun TTB	1	3	1	Base 3-4	7	Pass	Waggle flat	TE jet?!	Gash	Inc
This play takes Bredeson in from the bunch and actually kind of uses him as a jet sweep decoy? And it works? MLB looks right and then doesn’t get on his horse until Gash has the drop on him. JJ puts it on Gash… crippling drop. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection N/A, RPS +1). Loveland is wide open in the endzone as well but since Gash is running to the corner of the endzone I’m not going to be too harsh on the decision.
O15	3	11	Gun trips TE	1	1	3	Base 3-4	7	Pass	TE drag	N	Loveland	Inc
Well, maybe that earlier catch and run wasn’t a coverage bust but just a huge problem with ILL coverages? Same thing happens here; Loveland gets chucked by one guy but no one is covering him and he is wide open for six; JJ airmails it. (INX, -2, 0, protection 2/2, RPS +2)
Drive Notes: FG(32), 16-17, 3 min 4th Q.
Ln	Dn	Ds	O Form	RB	TE	WR	D Form	Box	Type	Play	Motion	Player	Yards
M48	1	10	Gun TTB	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Pass	Flat	WR	Johnson	3
Run ‘em across the formation against man and get four yards. Eh? Out of bounds at least. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 1/1)
O49	2	7	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Exotic	5	Pass	Scramble	N	McCarthy	4
Three man rush against another eight man drop and JJ takes off again. There’s 1:50 left and this is almost certainly capping out at these four yards; would much rather JJ threaten the LOS and then find someone after the opposition approaches. (TA, -0.5, protection 1/1)
O45	3	3	Pistol 3-wide	1	1	3	Exotic	7	Run	Duo	N	Dunlap	0
This is basically their 3-4 with two standup LBs in the B gaps. Zinter(-1) doubles the nose; LB is head up on him, though, and he needs to ID that and block him because Barnhart(-1) is in tough without a double, but you’d like to see him shove a LB far enough so that he gets caught in the wash. Nope; Olu can’t get off the NT block to do anything with the MLB.
O45	4	3	Gun empty	1	1	3	Exotic	5	Pass	Flat	WR	Gash	8
The controversial OPI or NOPI play. Loveland gets jammed off the line and keeps running, picking off the guy in man coverage on Gash; flip to Gash, conversion. (CA, +0.5, 3, protection 1/1, RPS +1)
O37	1	10	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Exotic	5	Pass	Post corner	N	Bell	Inc (Pen +15)
Man up against Witherspoon and we’re still going after him, ok. Witherspoon jumps the post, and when Bell breaks it back out he maintains contact; Bell is able to flip his hip around faster and gets separation. JJ puts this right on his facemask, or at least would have if Witherspoon had let go of Bell’s arm. He doesn’t; flag comes out. (DO, +2, 1, protection 2/2)
O22	1	10	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Exotic	6	Pass	Improv	N	Bell	Inc
Five man rush; Dunlap(-1) gets too close to the LOS and when the guy comes off the edge he can only get a shove in. This prevents a sack but JJ has to bug out; he motions Bell deep and misses him in the endzone because he gets hit on the throw. In this situation just get rid of the ball in some sort of safe method and we’re good. (MA, +0, 0, protection ½)
O22	2	10	Gun trips	1	1	3	Exotic	7	Pass	Hitch	N	Johnson	5
House sent as this is a seven man pressure. Mesh on from M; doesn’t have time to develop; JJ rolls out and is able to get it to Johnson, but takes Johnson off his feet. On the planet I live on this is in no way a catch but it stands on replay, refs +1. (CA+, 0.5, 1, protection 0/2, team -2)
O17	3	5	Gun 3-wide	1	1	3	Exotic	5.5	Pass	Back shoulder fade	N	Johnson	Inc
This is going to be either a fade or more likely a back shoulder at Johnson, who gets press man. DE jumps way high in the air to bat it. (BA, +0, 0, protection 2/2)
Drive Notes: FG(34), 19-16, EOG.

 

Argh?

I suppose, yeah.

Suppose?

All right, yeah, okay, argh.

I mean!

Sure here's a second and fourteen on which Illinois runs a zero blitz and Michigan runs into it.

Argh!

Can I interest you in a touchdown that goes through a guy's hands at the same time an Illinois guy jumps offsides and is not called for it?

NO

The fifth string running back dropping a pass in the flat?

STOP

Well, they did win?

TECHNICALLY

Let's look at Some Drives We're Looking At™

• 75 yard TD drive
• 62 yard drive ending in the Corum fumble, 38-yard drive ending in the Anthony drop/missed offsides, seven-play 12-yard drive ending after the holding call on Zinter brings back a 40-yard Wilson completion.
• FG drives of 54, 35, 24, and 15 yards.
• 60-yard drive that's a punt because it starts at the three.
• Two three-and-outs.

They did all of this without Edwards and half of it without Corum.

I see what you're doing with that second bin. That's a lot of coulda-shoulda.

I mean… yes. It is. In addition to the coulda-shoulda listed above, the drive from the three that ended in a punt had the inexplicable Corum step-out and one of the field goal drives had the Gash drop.

The point I'm trying to make is that this was not Michigan's offense getting sat upon, it was a very aggressive defense throwing haymakers, receiving a number of haymakers themselves, and a series of extremely high leverage events all going against Michigan. Michigan needed approximately two of those to go their way—let's say Corum hangs onto the ball a millisecond longer and Anthony catches the TD—to turn this into a ~30-17 win in which Michigan exceeds 400 yards against a very good defense and has everyone thinking "lmao we're gonna kill 'em" this weekend.

Meanwhile the high leverage events that went in Michigan's favor are different than "guy dropped ball in hands"; the fourth down conversions were good playcalls that beat Illinois's approach.

Okay, but we missed a zillion passes and dropped three crucial balls and this is not a one-off. The take after the Rutgers game was SOMEONE MAKE A PLAY, and the take now is the same, so maybe this is a baked in thing?

Hmm. I don't like that, Bolded Alter-Ego. You're supposed to make arguments I have heard elsewhere so I can knock them down, not make arguments I have heard elsewhere that I have to admit are reasonable points.

Can I get a pet ferret?

Much better. Absolutely not, they smell like Satan's litter box.

Okay, but this felt bad irrespective of any "drive evaluations."

It did. I previously dismissed Illinois's defense as an artifact of the Big Ten West; I no longer think that. Illinois has three high end DL, an All-American corner, and a defensive coordinator who did more to confuse and frustrate the Michigan ground game than probably the rest of the schedule combined.

For the first time all year there were a bunch of plays on which the answer to the question "who is supposed to block that guy" is "nobody." Illinois had more defenders than blockers on virtually every snap and for reasons we'll get into Michigan did not productively option anyone almost all day. Worse, when you are +1 in the box you can just send guys all over the place and as long as you fit it you get to do all sorts of stuff that's brutally difficult to block. Michigan's first play after they got backed up is a fine example:

Illinois LB in middle of the field, closest to bottom

Illinois knows that they're slanting right here and that LB scrapes over to the POA, where Michigan's blocking is pretty good—they've carved out a lane. But that's fool's gold because Illinois doesn't care since their free hitter is going to fill it.

The same thing happened on the next play. Loveland straight up whips his man on this play and it doesn't matter because the Illinois LB who Michigan has no one to account for scrapes over to the gap and tackles.

Illinois LB closest to top

This is vastly different than the poor bastard LBs who have had to watch Michigan duo plays eat their DTs alive this year. Those guys have to hang out and hope they guess right. Illinois LBs do not have to do that because they have a guy for each gap.

So how do you make that work?

You gotta delete a guy. One way to do this is to have Blake Corum. Michigan should not have ripped off a big play on their first snap but Corum threatened outside, got the free hitter to commit, and then was off to the races:

Illinois DB #21 to right of formation

I have long railed against the idea that it is good football to regularly ask your running back to make some one miss at or near the line of scrimmage to have a successful play, but I do concede that if you've got Blake Corum it's not the worst plan in the world.

The other popular way to delete a guy is to use your quarterback as a runner. This style of defense was DJ Durkin's style and it was singularly horrible at defending JT Barrett, because it removes a safety so comprehensively that when you do break through the first line of defense the ball is going for a chunk, and evening up the numbers with the QB results in chunk after chunk. There was one reasonably good example of this on an early CJ Stokes chunk. This is second and long and Illinois blitzes, folding back the OLB to the bottom of the screen:

Illinois LB #49 on LOS to bottom

He doesn't know where the ball is, and he's not really in great position to do anything about it if he does. Later in the game Corum would get this pin and pull and this LB would not be as indecisive:

Illinois LB #49 on LOS to bottom

That's still five yards and would be some more if Corum doesn't stumble, but the difference between these two plays is clear. That's a ten yard difference.

Michigan could not sustain this like they could against Penn State. Michigan tried to in this game, but for a variety of reasons they couldn't make it work. Problem #1 was McCarthy. Probably! I have no idea when reads are or are not actually live. My assumption is when there is an unblocked backside end that usually there is a read attached because if there isn't that's just asking for it. So when you have an unblocked end and he hauls ass like this:

You have to pull. Also when you've got arc on and there is no discernible edge, you have to pull:

That's +1 in the box, and then a safety comes down, and then Michigan's running arc, so after the handoff there are three unblocked defenders in the box.

Even when McCarthy did pull the ball Michigan managed to mess it up. I think this might go back to a lack of reps. This pull is absolutely correct and should be a good gain but two different things happen.

#1 is that Ronnie Bell looks at the most dangerous guy and decides not to block him:

The overhang guy is looking directly at JJ and Bell is looking directly at him; that needs to be the guy he blocks, with Wilson replacing to take out the guy who's at the first down sticks. Instead Bell goes for the deeper guy and leaves Wilson, who is in much worse position to do anything about this dude, with the task.

Then McCarthy gets this guy's hips turned and does not cut vertical. No-cut running is a recipe for disaster, and there you go.

What happened to our beautiful Penn State game?

I don't know. I do go back to all those articles about how Michigan's identity is rough-and-tumble interior running and that's why they're so good at it, and isn't the inevitable flipside of that a certain lack of polish in other parts of the game? The plays were here for Michigan to make and they did not make them. A similar thing played out in the passing game, which everyone reading this post is well aware of.

Surely there's something else? With the throwing?

Yes, with the throwing. Illinois ran mostly man to man but would occasionally run trap cover two, which we saw against Indiana. Michigan couldn't do anything against that on the ground in that game against a pretty bad defense, and when an actually good one ran it:

Illinois CBs allow backside DE to flow

That's a stretch, which should be a surprise counter to what Michigan usually does and get some guys reached, except Illinois is slanting into the stretch and nobody's going anywhere. A couple plays later Illinois would go back to trap and get a hole shot on their faces:

The DB here has run responsibility so when Bell goes by him he's not dropping immediately despite having nothing in the flat.

That was not exactly uncommon but McCarthy once again put up mortal numbers in my charting.

JJ MCCARTHY

	Good				Neutral			Bad					Ovr			Reads
Game	DO	CA	SCR		PR	MA		BA	TA	IN	BR		DSR	GRADE!		RPOs	ZRs
Colorado State		4+											100%	oops		0/0	4/4
Hawaii	4	8(1)+											100%	+14		1/1	3/3
UConn	2++	5(6)			1	2							100%	+11		1/1	1/2
Maryland	2	15(1)	1						1	5	3**		67%	+1.5		1/2	1/3
Iowa	3+	11+(4)			3	3			1	3			78%	+8		1/1	2/3
Indiana	2	22++(3)	1		1	1				2*	3		83%	+16		4/4	4/5
Penn State	3	9(5)	2		2	1		1		1(3)	2		78%	+4.5		5/6	3/3
MSU	2	12(1)++	3		2	3				3	2		77%	+8.5		2/2	1/2
Rutgers	4	12(2)+	1		2	3		1		1(1)			89%	+10		0/1	0/1
Nebraska		11+			3					3	2		69%	+4.5		1/1	0
Illinois	2	19+(3)			1	2		2	1	5*	2*		68%	+3		0/0	2/4

(Run +/- is in the other chart; the above is solely a passing/decisions grade.)

This isn't terrible. It's fine. McCarthy's day looks a lot different if you add in 120 yards of drops and absurd penalties negating big plays. That said between the running issues described above and a lot of bad decisions/throws in the passing game this was McCarthy's worst outing of the season. You can take your pick of emblematic issues but this throw is probably #1:

For whatever reason Illinois repeatedly refused to cover the tight end crosser when Michigan ran mesh, and Hibner is running down to the free safety inside the ten if this is complete:

38 is nominally the guy in coverage. JJ instead throws to Loveland, who is not very open and has Bell running right next to him.  Also he overthrows the 6'6" guy with freaky arms. The very next play Michigan gets Anthony open with a rub and the ball is not catchable:

McCarthy offset these issues with a number of nice balls but his error rate here was 50-100% higher than it has been for much of the season, and that's how you bog down.

On the brightside, McCarthy was pretty good against pressure in this game, and there was a fair bit of it. He was able to complete some passes outside of the pocket under heavy duress, and his ability to even get to those positions is highly unusual. I guess the good news is that once you can do the incredible bit of this, the mundane thing where you flip it to your tight end should be an easy fix:

McCarthy did indeed make that easy fix later in the game, only for the giant chunk play to get wiped out by said absurd holding call.

I still think it's in there for McCarthy. 50/50 he discards the bad stuff from this game and returns to flamethrower ways.

You said something about the pressure rate?

Well, let's check the ol' chart.

Offensive Line
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Hayes	9	3.5	+6.5	Held up against tough customers.
Keegan				DNP
Oluwatimi	3.5	5	-1.5	Not a whole lot of opportunities for positives as most runs couldn't get to the point where I'd judge his block, and then he got decked a couple times.
Zinter	6	3	+3	Also held his own.
Jones	0.5		+0.5	Helped on TD.
Barnhart	6	6.5	-0.5	Physically overwhelmed few times.
El-Hadi	5.5	4	+1.5	Mental errors popped up but coped physically aside from one –2.
Anderson				DNC
Persi				DNC
All				DNP
Schoonmaker				DNP
Honigford	3	0.5	+2.5
Hibner		4	-4	Two major errors in scant playing time.
Bredeson	0.5	2	-1.5	Missed ID on JJ keep.
Loveland	5.5	4	+1.5	One bad linebacker airball, otherwise shockingly competent.
TOTAL	39.5	32.5	55%	Worst performance of the year by a large margin.
Backs
Player	+	-	T	Notes
McCarthy	1	3	-2	Had two opps to make plays and didn't.
McNamara				DNP
Orji				DNP
Corum	6	3	+3	-2 for the run OOB on the screen, so other than that the usual.
Edwards				DNP
Stokes	3		+3	Solid when given any room.
Dunlap				DNC
TOTAL	10	6	+4	Gash DNC either.
Receivers
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Johnson	0.5		+0.5
Bell	2	3	-1	Bad decision on JJ keeper.
Henning				DNP
Wilson
Anthony	0.5		+0.5
Clemons
TOTAL	3	3	0	Meh.
Metrics
Player	+	-	T	Notes
Protection	37	13	74%	-4 TEAM, –3 Barnhart, –3 El-Hadi, –1 Zinter, –1 Oluwatimi, –1 Dunlap
RPS	19	17	+2	Hooray wild swings!

13 pass pro minuses isn't horrendous given the heavy blitzing from Illinois, but it did impact McCarthy. More alarming was the run blocking grades. These are Not Good. Michigan put up 4.2 YPC but big chunks of their success were either Corum dialing up a +3 on the first run or a 25-yard RPS run on which only Loveland got a blocking score amongst guys in the OL/TE section. The rest of their carries averaged 2.8 YPC, and that's the kind of grading you see when you're not winning down-to-down.

 

This was a bridge too far for Michigan's backup OL. El-Hadi and Barnhart both had dubious days. Here they both get whacked on a one yard run:

El-Hadi's streak of not screwing things up came to an abrupt end on the first drive, when he fired out on a rusher who happened to be stunting and exposed McCarthy to an unblocked rusher:

Michigan LG #58

He struggled to execute in the much more difficult environment Illinois presents you with, repeatedly making presnap assumptions that turned out to be bad and not adjusting post-snap. Here you have a clear distinction between Hayes and El-Hadi on a blitz that sees Illinois slant away:

Michigan LT #76 and LG #58

Hayes is in trouble but at least he recognizes the slant and stops to try to do something about it; El-Hadi just runs to the nose tackle and never sees the issue.

Barnhart was in difficulty in all phases. He repeatedly busted assignments; this attempted TE throwback probably isn't working but maybe McCarthy can put it in the #buttzone if he's got some time. Instead:

Michigan RT #52

I still think they're solid—both guys scraped over zero—but there's a gap between solid and Trevor Keegan.

Oluwatimi though?

Mostly I think this is a lack of opportunity to grade blocks. He had some issues, but I rarely got to evaluate whether what he was doing was any good because Illinois was slanting hard and forcing backs outside.

That's a huge RPS number both ways.

This was a massively RPS game, as it tends to be when the opposition is super aggressive. We've detailed a lot of the frustrations from this game when Illinois was able to deliver an unblocked guy to the running back. There were plenty of compensations, though. Michigan pulled out screens to the running back for the first time… in the Harbaugh era? Probably not, but maybe not so far away. These took advantage of man coverage to 1) delete the playside corner with motion, and 2) pick off the guy in man on the RB. The first of these was a huge play that should have been bigger:

Gash got another chunk on this, and then he got eaten alive when Michigan went back to the well one too many times.

Michigan also managed to take advantage of that crashing DE at least once, when they ran what is essentially arc read without the read. Loveland passes the DE up and kicks the force guy; DE cannot change direction in time to recover, and now you've deleted a guy and get a big play:

Illinois was maybe most impressive when it came to adapting to these. Michigan got the RB screen one more time but third opportunity was a four yard TFL, and the second time (second!) that Michigan ran the under-center arc Illinois strung it out and Corum got his knee blown up.

Then there was an entirely different RPS subset of the game based on Michigan WR motion. Michigan repeatedly used motion to get CBs lost on critical downs, most obviously on the conversion to Johnson:

Probably not good for your defense when you go from this:

To this:

That is not enough guys to cover two guys. That is one guy.

Illinois struck back by repeatedly converting cornerbacks into backside blitzers when someone motioned away from him. You may remember this tactic from "Khaleke Hudson gets 8 TFLs against Minnesota." While Michigan wasn't completely inert in the face of it like that Gophers team was, the first time it came out it was a thunderous RPS –3 TFL:

Even when Michigan was able to anticipate and cut off Witherspoon on that blitz the adjustment didn't filter all the way through the line and the middle linebacker ended up completely unblocked:

I will be interested to see what happens with Ryan Walters, the Illinois DC, this offseason.

Receivers?

I think we have to assert that things are bad.

 

	THIS WEEK					THIS YEAR
Player	Uncb	Circus	Tough	Routine		Uncb	Circus	Tough	Routine
Johnson	2	1/1		4/4		4	2/5	1/2	18/20
Bell	2	0/2		3/3		8	2/6	0/1	37/39
Wilson			1/1	1/2		3	1/3	2/2	13/14
Anthony	3			0/1		5	0/1	0/1	6/8
Henning									2/3
Morris								1/1
Walker							0/1	0/1
All						1	1/1		1/1
Schoonmaker						1	1/3	3/5	23/24
Honigford
Hibner
Bredeson	1			1/1		1			5/5
Loveland	2	1/1		2/2		3	2/2		7/7
Corum				1/1		1			7/7
Edwards						1		2/2	12/12
Stokes									1/2
Gash				2/3					2/3

Routes: Loveland ++-, Bell +.

That is eight flat drops from the WR corps and the continued near-total dearth of tough catches means they're not really making up for it.

Colston Loveland, though?

Yes, I will give you a though for Colston Loveland.

We're at the point where Michigan is targeting Loveland on routes where the idea is "go win" and nothing else. Michigan's first play after the big punt return was Loveland against a safety in man coverage, and this looks like an entirely different passing game than the rest of Saturday's outing:

Loveland just gets to the sticks, gets separation, and is too biglarge for the safety to do anything about it.

He seems to be emerging into McCarthy's default when things get rough. The El-Hadi issue above was still a completion because McCarthy fired it to Loveland, who had gone and won against a linebacker on a crossing route. The thing where Hibner's wide open above and McCarthy still goes to Loveland is prime lock-on territory.

At this point it feel like he's the #2 WR behind Bell.

Speaking of Bell, they should not have thrown him the ball at all.

Maybe not at all, but good Lord.

We tried to tell you that while we don't take PFF OL grading seriously anymore they still have a lot of value. Devon Witherspoon entered this game their #1 CB in the country, and that is 100% accurate. The worst thing you can say about him is that sometimes he should get hit with a flag because he's closing on the WR too fast.

That's a penalty, but it's so bang-bang that you get away with it most of the time. This is even less likely to get called:

I don't really know why Michigan kept going at him. I would rather have Bell running the decoy deep routes and Cornelius Johnson getting the pivot against Illinois's #4 cornerback. Bell managed to get open in man coverage on the pivotal pass interference call on Michigan's last drive, but that was an exception. I don't think the gap between Bell and Michigan's other WRs is anywhere near the gap between Witherspoon and a who-dat redshirt freshman.

Heroes?

One half of Blake Corum. Ryan Hayes. Colston Loveland.

Maybe not so heroic?

Football Gods who decided Michigan should play half of this game down two OL, two TEs, and the best running back tandem in America. Hibner's blocking was a problem. Nobody else really qualifies here but sort of in general most Michigan players had an off game.

What does it mean for The Game?

We kind of need Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum. Not a revelation. Not the kind of takeaway you want from game 11.

QB read game seems off. RPOs have been off. Michigan had 9 IDed RPO/ZRs against PSU and just four here with no RPOs. Michigan is going to need to bring those back for the OSU game because they're not going to win blocks against OSU like non-Illinois opponents.

Colston Loveland is already that dude. If the RBs are limited he will be a huge part of the gameplan.

El-Hadi and Barnhart are a step down. I think we knew this but that game made it clear that the top eight are not even. I wonder what the deal is with Trente Jones: healthy enough to play the last drive against Rutgers and healthy enough to get in for a goal line snap here, but not healthy enough to start? Beat out?

McCarthy has taken a step back but he's not that far away. I went into this expecting that I'd come out with some pretty negative grades here and instead it was just a bleh game, not a disaster. He's easily capable of rebounding to a beat OSU level.

Catch the ball. Catch it.