Things got hairy for Michigan for the first time season, as Illinois took the Wolverines to the brink on Saturday. A chip-shot field goal by Jake Moody with seconds remaining in the game put the Wolverines over the line with a 19-17 victory over the Illini.
Below are three players of the game.
1. Jake Moody
What more can you say? Money Moody was just that, money.
Moody scored more points himself than the entire Wolverines offense in this one. He was 4-4 on the day including the game-winner from 35 yards. While they appeared to be gimmes for Moody on the surface, the weather conditions were all over the place on Saturday. Fortunately, that didn't have an impact on this one.
The Wolverines are 11-0 thanks to Moody and this is why he was the Lou Groza Award winner last year and could very well repeat this season, too.
2. Michigan's second-half defense
Outside of the one drive where Illini running back carved up the defense, the Wolverines did what it needed to on defense to keep the game in reach.
Getting key stops on third and fourth down, the game certainly wouldn't have been as close as it was if the Wolverines weren't able to contain Chase Brown in the fourth quarter.
Certainly, some things to improve upon for next week but the defense stood tall and got the job done.
3. Blake Corum
Michigan's only offensive player that made any kind of dent in the Illini defense, Corum added 108 yards and the Wolverines' only touchdown on the day. Obviously, the biggest storyline in this one is what happened before halftime where Corum went down with an apparent knee injury.
He came out of halftime with a ton of energy and participated in warmups and even carried the ball a few times in the second half but ended up being sidelined the rest of the way.
His absence made it clear just how valuable he is to this U-M program.
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