Michigan 27 Illinois 17 - October 20, 2007 - Champaign, Ill.
Chris Bray's Record (15-3)- Video Highlights
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -With Mike Hart walking the sideline in a warmup jacket, No. 24 Michigan needed some substitute stars.
The Wolverines found just what they needed in backup tailback Carlos Brown and a gritty performance by a banged-up Chad Henne.
Brown rushed for 113 yards and Henne played through a hand injury to throw two touchdown passes in the Wolverines' 27-17 win over Illinois on Saturday night.
Receiver Mario Manningham also caught nine balls for 109 yards and two touchdowns, including the tiebreaking score.
``The only word to describe Henne is courageous,'' Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. ``He did something anybody on this team will never forget.''
Hart, the nation's leading rusher with 152 yards a game, watched from the sideline after hurting an ankle last weekend in a win over Purdue. Michigan (6-2, 4-0) was still able to extend its winning streak to six games.
After starting the season with humbling losses to Appalachian State and Oregon at home, Michigan is tied with No. 1 Ohio State for the Big Ten lead.
The Illini have lost two in a row are still looking for the win they need to become bowl eligible for first time since 2001.
``We had opportunities to win the game,'' Illinois coach Ron Zook said. ``We let it slip away from us.''
The Illini (5-3, 3-2) were flagged 10 times for 107 yards and kept two Michigan scoring drives alive with penalties.
Also return man Kyle Hudson fumbled away a fourth-quarter punt with the score tied 17-17 that set up Michigan's go-ahead score.
After signaling for a fair catch, Hudson dropped the ball at his own 13. Michigan senior Sean Griffith fell on it.
``I guess he just misjudged it,'' Zook said. ``That was really the straw that broke the camel's back.''
The turnover set up the Manningham's second touchdown, which came on a gadget play.
Wide receiver Adrian Arrington ran right on a reverse before tossing to Manningham open in the Illini end zone.
``I was thinking I was going to run it the whole time but then I saw Mario and I knew I had to throw it to him,'' Arrington said.
Illini sophomore Vontae Davis took the opening kickoff back 67 yards, setting up a quick 26-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Juice Williams to Jacob Willis.
A short punt and interference penalty by Illinois led to the Wolverines' first points, a 25-yard K.C. Lopata field goal that made the score 7-3.
Michigan took its first lead on a drive that, if not for another costly mistake, would have ended deep in Wolverine territory.
After back-to-back sacks of quarterback Chad Henne, the Wolverines were forced to punt from their own 13. But Illinois' Joe Morgan ran into punter Zoltan Mesko, giving Michigan a first down on the penalty.
Ten plays later, Henne hit Arrington for a diving 8-yard touchdown and a 17-14 lead.
Henne hurt his hand on a first-quarter sack, and left the game twice. But he finished the game, completing 18 of 26 passes for 201 yards with an interception. Backup Ryan Mallett was 2-for-6 for 16 yards and an interception.
Carr declined to discuss the nature of Henne's injury, but said he let the quarterback decide whether he could keep playing.
``At the half, we were just hoping he would be able to return at some point,'' Carr said. ``He played with a lot of discomfort.''
The Illini sacked Henne and Mallett a combined four times.
But aside from a 90-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, which put Illinois up 14-3, the Illini struggled to move the ball.
Carr said his team struggles in practice against the no-huddle, spread offense that Illinois runs, but handled it well during the game.
``Other than that (drive), our defense I thought adjusted to the speed of the game,'' Carr said.
Rashard Mendenhall, who came in averaging 119.9 yards, was held to a 85 yards on 18 carries.
Williams was 8-for-14 for 70 yards with an interception and one touchdown. For the fourth straight week, Zook gave backup Eddie McGee some time, looking for a change of pace. McGee was 6-for-12 for 46 yards.
``We just have to work from here,'' Willis said. ``The game's over. We just have to forget about it.''
Scoring Summary
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Michigan............ 3 14 0 10 - 27 Record: (6-2,4-0)
Illinois............ 7 7 3 0 - 17 Record: (5-3,3-2)
Attendance: 57,078
1st 14:04 ILL - Willis, Jacob 26 yd pass from Williams,Isiah (Reda,Jason kick)
2 plays, 33 yards, TOP 0:56, MICH 0 - ILL 7
01:21 MICH - Lopata, K.C. 25 yd field goal
10 plays, 44 yards, TOP 4:05, MICH 3 - ILL 7
2nd 09:58 ILL - Dufrene, Daniel 8 yd run (Reda,Jason kick)
13 plays, 90 yards, TOP 6:23, MICH 3 - ILL 14
08:01 MICH - Manningham, M. 8 yd pass from Henne, Chad (Lopata, K.C. kick)
6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:57, MICH 10 - ILL 14
00:45 MICH - Arrington, A. 14 yd pass from Henne, Chad (Lopata, K.C. kick)
14 plays, 81 yards, TOP 5:05, MICH 17 - ILL 14
3rd 03:47 ILL - Reda,Jason 38 yd field goal
9 plays, 50 yards, TOP 3:44, MICH 17 - ILL 17
4th 08:12 MICH - Manningham, M. 11 yd pass from Arrington, A. (Lopata, K.C. kick)
2 plays, 13 yards, TOP 0:46, MICH 24 - ILL 17
03:49 MICH - Lopata, K.C. 39 yd field goal
6 plays, 25 yards, TOP 2:45, MICH 27 - ILL 17
Kickoff time: 7:12 pm End of Game: 10:30 pm Total elapsed time: 3:18
Officials: Referee: Dan Capron; Umpire: Jim Krogstad; Linesman: Jim Ryan;
Line judge: Paul Engelberts; Back judge: Tom Herbert; Field judge: Ron Torbert;
Side judge: John Roggeman;
Temperature: 67 deg. Wind: S 13 MPH Weather: Clear
Team Statistics
MICH ILL
FIRST DOWNS................... 23 15
Rushing..................... 8 9
Passing..................... 10 4
Penalty..................... 5 2
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 115 137
Rushing Attempts............ 46 31
Average Per Rush............ 2.5 4.4
Rushing Touchdowns.......... 0 1
Yards Gained Rushing........ 168 161
Yards Lost Rushing.......... 53 24
NET YARDS PASSING............. 228 116
Completions-Attempts-Int.... 21-33-2 14-26-1
Average Per Attempt......... 6.9 4.5
Average Per Completion...... 10.9 8.3
Passing Touchdowns.......... 3 1
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 343 253
Total offense plays......... 79 57
Average Gain Per Play....... 4.3 4.4
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 3-1 3-1
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 4-35 10-107
PUNTS-YARDS................... 4-176 5-184
Average Yards Per Punt...... 44.0 36.8
Net Yards Per Punt.......... 43.8 37.0
Inside 20................... 3 2
50+ Yards................... 1 0
Touchbacks.................. 0 0
Fair catch.................. 1 2
KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 6-349 4-261
Average Yards Per Kickoff... 58.2 65.2
Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 40.5 52.2
Touchbacks.................. 1 0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 1--1-0 1-1-0
Average Per Return.......... -1.0 1.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 4-52-0 4-86-0
Average Per Return.......... 13.0 21.5
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 1-0-0 2-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 34:49 25:11
1st Quarter................. 8:39 6:21
2nd Quarter................. 7:02 7:58
3rd Quarter................. 9:29 5:31
4th Quarter................. 9:39 5:21
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 16 4 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 5-6 1-1
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-12 4-33
PAT Kicks..................... 3-3 2-2
Field Goals................... 2-2 1-2
