ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After a season consistent with week-to-week offensive efficiency, the Michigan offense got a wake-up call against Illinois.

Without Blake Corum & Donovan Edwards, U-M's untouched rushing efficiency was laid to rest by an Illini defense that refused to get beat by the run.

Often lined up in Cover 1, loading the box, head coach Brett Bielema begged Jim Harbaugh to beat his team via the pass.

Michigan did that one way or another, escaping its home turf with a 19-17 win ahead of The Game at Ohio State next week.

It wasn't without criticism, as the offense looked nothing close to an operation worthy of a national championship.

After going 75 yards on seven plays on the game's first drive, the J.J. McCarthy-led offense wouldn't score another touchdown, relying on the reliable leg of Jake Moody to convert on three field goals, including the game-winner with nine seconds left.

Michigan, a team who prides itself on running the football, had its least productive day since it ran for 165 yards at Indiana earlier this season.

The difference between the game against Illinois & the one in Bloomington is Michigan's offensive efficiency.

When the run didn't work at IU, Co-Offensive Coordinators Matt Weiss & Sherrone Moore called on McCarthy to answer the bell, which he did, throwing for a season-high 304 yards & three touchdowns.

Against Illinois, however, the sophomore signal-caller needed late-game heroics to eclipse 200 passing yards while throwing at a 52% clip -- his third game in a row with a completion percentage worse than 50%. He didn't have a touchdown pass, either.

You can point to numerous plays as examples of the offense's scroll of struggles on a cold, windy day in Ann Arbor.

Andrel Anthony dropped a wide-open touchdown catch in the end zone. McCarthy missed freshman TE Colston Loveland on a wide-open pass in the end zone that might've iced the game.

It was another game with drops, miscues, and endless examples of almosts for the Michigan air attack, which is no longer making us wonder when it will come alive, but rather if it's going to at all.

As for those in uniform, there's still no doubt an effective passing game is coming, despite being 11 games into the season.

When WR Ronnie Bell was asked about the offense's struggles, he called it "a bit crazy" to say the passing game hasn't worked.

I'll leave that up to the reader's discretion, but when McCarthy had to answer, his message was clear.

"There's always going to be questions of, 'why isn't (the passing game) there,' and, 'we should be throwing for 400 yards a game," McCarthy said after the game. "But, you know what, our identity is a smash fest, and we love to run the rock. We love to do it and inflict our force on any opponent we play."

With Edwards sidelined heading into Saturday & Corum sidelined during it, the health of what keeps the Michigan offense going is in question.

Can McCarthy find a rhythm with his wideouts -- for the first time since Oct. 8 -- in The Horsehoe?

Sounds crazy, right?

Not to the 19-year-old Chicago native, who thinks the ceiling of this offense is still sky-high despite the evidence thus far.

"A lot of meat on the bone is still on the bone, and it's ready to come off next Saturday/."

The Game is almost here, and Michigan -- 11-0 and a win away from its first 12-0 season since 1997 -- still feels good about its chances.