Michigan 35 Illinois 31 - September 23, 2000 - Champaign, Ill.
Chris Bray's Record (3-0) - Video Highlights
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Last season, Illinois handed
Michigan a painful defeat. Tonight, the Illini were responsible
for much of their own misery.
Anthony Thomas ran for a career-high 228 and two touchdowns,
including the go-ahead score with 2:30 left, and 10th-ranked
Michigan capitalized on a pair of fourth-quarter fumbles to end
a seven-game winning streak for the 17th-ranked Illini, 35-31.
The fumbles wasted a brilliant effort by Kurt Kittner, who
sprained his ankle last week but recovered to complete 27-of-38
passes for a career-high 352 yards and two scores. Greg Lewis
caught four passes for 107 yards.
Illinois was clinging to a 31-28 lead with four minutes left
when Rocky Harvey was spun head-over-heels on a tackle by
linebacker Victor Hobson, forcing a fumble that was recovered by
the Wolverines at the Illinois 26-yard line.
Thomas burst inside the Illinois 10, and appeared to fumble, but
the ball was ruled dead, and Thomas ran in from three yards out
for a 35-31 lead with 2:30 left.
Illinois' ensuing drive ended quickly when fullback Jameel Cook
caught a pass from Kittner and fumbled near midfield with
linebacker Larry Foote making the recovery.
Michigan won the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams and
made amends for a 35-29 loss in 1999 in which Illinois allowed
four touchdowns over the final 18 minutes.
"In the back of our minds, we were thinking about Illinois
because of what happened last year," Thomas said. "They played
us tough, but we played tough, too."
The Wolverines (3-1, 1-0), who also bounced back from last
week's loss at UCLA, returned the favor by rallying from a 21-7
deficit in the third quarter behind Drew Henson.
Henson, sidelined for the first three games of the season with a
broken foot, completed 8-of-17 passes for 141 yards and one
touchdown in his first appearance of the season.
"The foot felt fine. I practiced all week, so I knew I was up to
playing," Henson said. "Whether I could have played the entire
game, I honestly don't know."
Freshman John Navarre started for Michigan, completing 4-of-11
passes for 31 yards.
Thomas had the first 200-yard rushing effort for Michigan since
Tim Biakabutuka had 313 against Ohio State in 1995.
Illinois (3-1, 0-1) fell to 2-11 in ranked games under coach Ron
Turner and missed a chance at its first 4-0 start since 1951.
A 41-yard run by Walter Cross on a fake punt set up Micchigan's
first score, a two-yard run by Thomas.
A pair of big plays set up second-quarter touchdowns for
Illinois.
Punter Hayden Epstein failed to handle a snap in the end zone,
was chased by several defenders and got off a short kick that
went out of bounds at the 3. Antoineo Harris, who had 17 carries
for 56 yards, ran into the end zone on the next play.
Kittner threw a 58-yard bomb to Aaron Moorehead to the Michigan
6, setting up a six-yard TD run by Harvey that made it 14-7 at
halftime.
The Illini increased their lead to 21-7 on a 15-yard TD pass
from Kittner to Josh Whitman, and Michigan answered on an
eight-yard TD run by Henson, capping the drive that was kept
alive by a short run by Henson on 4th-and-inches from midfield.
"(Henson) showed tonight why he is one of the best quarterbacks
in the country," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "He has
experience and it showed."
With 22 seconds left in the third quarter, Illinois regained a
10-point cushion on a 24-yard field goal by Steve Fitts.
The teams continued to trade scores in the fourth quarter.
Henson threw a 57-yard TD pass to David Terrell 47 seconds into
the final period and Illinois responded with a 17-yard TD pass
from Kittner to Eric McGoey with 10:54 left.
Terrell had a huge game with six catches for 116 yards.
A 15-yard TD run by Chris Perry cut Illinois' lead to 31-28 with
9:29 remaining.
NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
MICHIGAN (10) 7 0 7 21 35
ILLINOIS (17) 0 14 10 7 31 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QTR: MICH - TD, ANTHONY THOMAS 2 YD RUN (HAYDEN EPSTEIN KICK),
3:48
2ND QTR: ILL - TD, ANTOINEO HARRIS 3 YD RUN (STEVE FITTS KICK),
3:39
ILL - TD, ROCKY HARVEY 6 YD RUN (STEVE FITTS KICK), 13:18
3RD QTR: ILL - TD, JOSH WHITMAN 15 YD PASS FROM KURT KITTNER
(STEVE FITTS KICK), 4:13
MICH - TD, DREW HENSON 8 YD RUN (JEFF DEL VERNE KICK),
9:39
ILL - FG, STEVE FITTS 24 YD, 14:38
4TH QTR: MICH - TD, DAVID TERRELL 57 YD PASS FROM DREW HENSON
(JEFF DEL VERNE KICK), 0:47
ILL - TD, ERIC MCGOEY 7 YD PASS FROM KURT KITTNER (STEVE
FITTS KICK), 4:06
MICH - TD, CHRIS PERRY 15 YD RUN (JEFF DEL VERNE KICK),
5:31
MICH - TD, ANTHONY THOMAS 3 YD RUN (JEFF DEL VERNE KICK),
12:30
Michigan Illinois
First downs 25 21
Rushed-yards 55-341 32-95
Passing yards 172 352
Sacked-yards lost 1-8 2-9
Return yards 0 16
Passes 12-28-0 27-38-0
Punts 6-29.0 4-46.5
Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2
Penalties-yards 7-57 4-25
Time of possession 31:14 28:46
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Michigan-A Thomas 35-228, Perry 10-59, Cross 1-41,
Henson 4-23, Team 3-minus 5, Navarre 2-minus 5. Illinois-A
Harris 17-56, R Harvey 8-34, Cook 4-16, Team 1-minus 2, Kittner
2-minus 9.
PASSING: Michigan-Henson 8-17-0-141, Navarre 4-11-0-31.
Illinois-Kittner 27-38-0-352.
RECEIVING: Michigan-Terrell 6-116, Walker 2-19, A Thomas 1-14,
Whitley 1-11, R Bellamy 1-8, Joppru 1-4. Illinois-Cook 7-59,
Lewis 4-107, E Mcgoey 4-36, R Harvey 4-23, Whitman 3-28, A
Moorehead 2-61, W Young 1-15, B Hodges 1-14, A Harris 1-9.
Att: 72,524
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