Defense/Special Teams Notes: Two 4th Quarter Fumble Recoveries Seal The Win
The Michigan Wolverines' football defense endured plenty of ups and downs on Saturday at Illinois. They allowed the Illini to score 25 straight points after U-M had built a 28-0 lead, but forced two turnovers in the fourth quarter to help secure the win.
With U-M clinging to a 35-25 lead and 8:57 remaining in the game, Illinois began a drive from its own 25-yard line looking to cut into the Maize and Blue advantage.
On the first play of the series, redshirt freshman linebacker Cam McGrone swarmed UI redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Robinson and forced the ball loose, allowing fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow to recover it at the Illini 20-yard line.
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"I saw the opportunity to make a big play, and I had to for my team," McGrone said afterward. "They didn't want to play with us anymore."
The Wolverine offense wasn't able to capitalize off the turnover though, getting stopped on a fourth-and-two play at the UI 12-yard line.
Still clinging to hope, the Illinois offense took the field with 7:14 remaining in the game, looking to once again cut into the 10-point deficit.
The Maize and Blue defense then forced a second consecutive fumble when fifth-year senior defensive end Michael Danna hit Robinson from behind and knocked the ball loose deep in UI territory,. The ball fell right into the arms of senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp.
Redshirt sophomore left guard Kendrick Green tackled Kemp just short of the goal line, denying the 6-3, 286-pounder of his first career touchdown.
"I think he rolled on top of an offensive lineman in the end zone," Glasgow recalled after the game. "I think he got a touchdown, and I think everyone on the defense would say the same. We got a touchdown out of it anyway. So, no harm."
Michigan's offense cashed in on the ensuing play when senior quarterback Shea Patterson snuck it in from a yard out to extend the Wolverines' lead to 42-25.
The Illini possessed the ball one last time but went three-and-out, finishing with just 256 yards for the game (3.6 yards per play), including only 64 on the ground (1.5 per carry).
Jordan Glasgow Makes The Special Teams Play Of The Day
With 12:23 remaining in the second quarter and Michigan already leading 14-0, Illinois lined up to punt. Fifth-year senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow came flying in to block it, getting every bit of the ball and ricocheting it backward.
Senior safety Josh Metellus recovered it at the Illinois 7-yard line, and it led to a touchdown run by freshman running back Zach Charbonnet on the ensuing play to increase the Wolverines' advantage to 21-0.
"I’ve come close to punts in the past, but they always seem to go by my arms," said Glasgow. "I was surprised when it actually hit and bounced like thirty yards backwards. Every week, we see something we think we can exploit, and it just turned out really good for us this time."
Glasgow was also good on defense — the Aurora, Ill., native tied McGrone for the defensive lead with 11 tackles and eight solo hits, plus 0.5 tackles for loss, the fumble recovery and his first blocked punt of his career.
One of the lowlights for the U-M special teams unit on Saturday occurred on the club's second offensive drive of the day, when redshirt junior kicker Quinn Nordin missed a 34-yard field goal that would have extended Michigan's lead to 10-0 at the time.
The failed attempt dropped the veteran's stat line on the year to 0 for 3.
Redshirt junior Will Hart, meanwhile, entered the day with the second-best punting average in the Big Ten (46.8 yards a punt) and tallied a solid 44.3 yards on three punts in breezy conditions, including a long of 49. The Illini were not able to return any of his punts.
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Defense/Special Teams Notes
• Illinois fifth-year senior running back Reggie Corbin entered the contest averaging 6.6 yards per carry and 95.5 yards per game — the latter figure ranked fourth in the Big Ten prior to Saturday — but was held to just 14 yards and 1.6 yards per touch.
• Saturday's game was Michigan's first trip to Illinois since Nov. 12, 2011, with the Wolverines having played at every Big Ten stadium since then.
Nebraska is now the conference venue U-M has the longest drought in, having last trekked there on Oct. 27, 2012.
• Junior linebacker Josh Ross was held out for the third straight game, after getting injuring in the Sept. 21 loss at Wisconsin.
• Junior cornerback Ambry Thomas' three pass breakups were a career-high.
• Michigan improved to 71-23-2 all-time against Illinois in 96 meetings between the two programs.
• Senior linebacker Josh Uche's three-sack afternoon gave him 4.5 on the year, tying him with junior defensive end Kwity Paye for the team lead. His five tackles for loss, meanwhile, gave him 6.5 for the season, which is now good for second on the team behind Paye's 7.5.
• Paye was held out of Saturday's game after getting injured in the third quarter of the 10-3 triumph over Iowa last weekend.
"They [Paye and senior tight end Sean McKeon] gave it a go in warmups but weren’t able to play today," head coach Jim Harbaugh revealed afterward.
• The victory snapped U-M's two-game losing streak in road contests (at Wisconsin on Sept. 21 and at Ohio State last year), with the last road victory prior to Saturday occurring at Rutgers on Nov. 10 last season, 42-7.
• Redshirt freshman cornerback Vincent Gray earned his first career start, filling in for injured senior cornerback Lavert Hill. The contest marked the first game Hill had missed since Nov. 18, 2017, at Wisconsin.
"[Junior wideout] Nico [Collins] and Lavert weren’t able to make the trip and didn’t play," Harbaugh explained in the postgame. "We held them out for this game."
• Illinois' second-quarter touchdown (a 23-yard touchdown pass from Robinson to redshirt junior wideout Josh Imatorbhebhe) marked the first TD Michigan's defense had allowed in its last 10 quarters, dating all the way back to the final frame of the Sept. 21 Wisconsin game.
It also marks just the third passing touchdown the defense has given up this year.
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