2019 Michigan Gameday #6: at Illinois

This afternoon Michigan heads back on the road to Champaign for a noon (EST) tilt against formerly familiar Big Ten foe Illinois.

This will be the 96th matchup between the teams but only the fifth game since 2010.  The Wolverines are on a four game winning streak after opening up the RichRod era with two awful losses at the hands of dynamite QB Juice Williams in 2008-09, followed by an insane 67-65 triple OT victory in 2010.  The Illini previously visited Ann Arbor three years ago for a 41-8 thumping, and they have just three conference wins since then.  Things haven't been great under former NFL head coach Lovie Smith.

The Wolverines should (should) be getting another breather after a tough win against #14 Iowa last Saturday, one that shouldn't count if you're to listen to the whiny minority of the fan base that lives to complain.  The offense continued to stall and frustrate, but boy did the defense come up huge against a decent team.  If the O can approach half the confidence of Don Brown's charges this team can still achieve its goals.

So we'll see if QB Shea Patterson and his side of the ball can finally show some signs of progress and get things going today, enough that we can get a longer look at backup Joe Milton and, less likely, Dylan McCaffrey, who's recovering from a concussion.  This is a team that should get eaten alive by the renewed ferocity of the Wolverine D, and now that it's short Michigan transfer QB Brandon Peters, that's an even better bet.  Michigan should get plenty of opportunities with good field position to instill some confidence (and maybe an identity) to a group that sorely needs it--a night visit to Happy Valley and home tilt vs. Notre Dame are up next.  Time to get things going.

LET'S GO BLUE!