The Illinois football team lost its second straight Big Ten contest

Saturday night, falling to No. 24-ranked Michigan 27-17. This brings

the Illini to 5-3 on the season and 3-2 in the Big Ten.

The Illini built a 14-3 first half lead but Michigan fought its way

back to a 17-14 lead with the help of a few costly penalties on the

Illini. Illinois was penalized 10 times for 107 yards and flagged for

four personal fouls in the game.

Even without the nations leading rusher Mike Hart – sidelined with an

ankle injury – the Wolverines accumulated 343 yards of offense behind

sophomore running back Carlos Brown and junior receiver Mario

Manningham.

Brown rushed for 113 yards in Harts place, while Manningham caught

nine passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wolverines

(6-2, 4-0 Big Ten) to their sixth straight victory.

Illinois scored just 56 seconds into the game on a 26 yard touchdown

pass from Illini quarterback Juice Williams to senior wide receiver

Jacob Willis.

With the game tied 17-17 in the fourth quarter junior wide receiver

Kyle Hudson fumbled a punt at the Illinois 11-yard.

After a Brown run, Hart’s replacement, Michigan ran a trick play where

wide receiver Adrian Arrington threw a pass to wide out Manningham

for a six point score.

Adding the extra point, the Wolverines were up 24-17, and never looked

back as they added a field goal to seal the deal. The Illini did not

enter Michigan’s territory the entire fourth quarter.

This game raises more questions about quarterback situation, which

seems to be up in the air for the Illini. Juice Williams and Eddie

McGee roughly split game time in the second half, and McGee ended up

six for twelve with zero interceptions and touchdowns, while Williams

was eight for fourteen with one pick and a passing touchdown.

Zook already named Juice Williams next week’s starter, but expect

McGee to take a good share of the snaps.

Despite the loss, Zook was very proud of his team for their efforts

against a powerhouse like Michigan. He told his team after the game,

“Look, don’t hang your heads. Don’t be embarrassed. We’ll be back, and

we will get right back on track.”

Check out tomorrow’s issue of The Daily Illini for the full story.