5 things we learned from Michigan Football win over Illinois

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - NOVEMBER 19: Place kicker Jake Moody #13 of the Michigan Wolverines celebrates with head coach Jim Harbaugh during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Michigan Stadium on November 19, 2022 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wolverines won 19-17. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

This Michigan team has guts

I know it wasn’t pretty and there are lots of fair points of criticism to make about the Wolverines on Saturday. But, you have to give this team credit for battling the way it did.

At some point, every championship team has to find a way to win when they aren’t at their best. Georgia won 16-6 at Kentucky last night. TCU won on a last-second field goal — even Ohio State was only up six when Maryland took over the ball with under a minute to go.

It’s not easy to beat good football teams in November. If Andrel Anthony catches that touchdown and if J.J. McCarthy doesn’t miss a few throws, or even if the ball just rolls out of bounds after Corum got hurt, Michigan maybe wins the game by double-digits.

But a combination of drops, overthrows, and an injury, gave a good Illinois team a chance and they took advantage. Chase Brown is really, really good. Give credit where credit is due.

That includes Michigan. This was the first time the Wolverines trailed in the fourth quarter of a game all season. It wasn’t pretty but as Harbaugh said after the Rutgers win last year, “When they start keeping track of pretty on the scoreboard, we’ll care about it.”

There are four undefeated teams in college football and Michigan is one. This team refused to quit and made enough winning plays to survive. That’s a championship trait.

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