3 reasons that Michigan football will beat Illinois in a top-25 matchup

The defensive line

Wink Martindale has failed the Michigan football defense so far this season. He just has. Wink thought he could run NFL stuff with this defense and on the backend, that's just not the case.

As he has done all season, Wink trotted out some weird stuff against Washington and got torched. There are way too many busted coverages and it's clear players are confused.

So let the secondary do what it can do. The strength of this team is the defensive line. There are three, maybe even four future first-round picks up front. Derrick Moore missed the last game, but still, Michigan has the best position group in this game and it's not close.

The defensive line should dominate and make life hell on Altmyer, especially if Illinois can't run. If the Wolverines can stonewall Illinois as Penn State did on the ground, it should be able to torment Altmyer and force him into some mistakes.

That's only if Wink can be patient though. It's OK to give up some plays. It's going to happen and you can't just be vanilla. But it should be a lot simpler this week. Let the players do what they're good at and so far, Wink hasn't done that enough.

My hope is that changes on Saturday, although it could be wishful thinking.