Michigan Football: 5 things we learned about Wolverines against Illinois
Defense dominates in the trenches
While Michigan football ended up surrendering 25 points to Illinois when it was all said and done, the Wolverines had a lot better day than first appearances might show.
Despite the point total, which was aided by a fumble that gave Illinois the ball in the red zone, Michigan only gave up 267 yards and forced two turnovers, as well as four sacks, three of which came from Josh Uche. The two forced fumbles late were also essential.
Interception? Fumble recovery? You decide. ⬇️@UMichFootball re-takes control of this one with another timely takeaway: pic.twitter.com/z1Hepojt6T
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 12, 2019
The most impressive thing was the way the Wolverines handled the running game and Reggie Corbin who is one of the most explosive running backs in the Big Ten.
The front seven dominated Illinois, basically from start to finish. Corbin wound up with just 14 yards on nine carries and as a team, the Illini 64 yards on 42 carries, which amounted to 1.5 yards per carry.
Not having Lavert Hill didn’t help and the secondary needs to play better, but all in all, the defense did exactly what its supposed to do.