What they're saying after Michigan's win over Illinois, the OSU game, CFP and more
Michigan football stayed undefeated at 11-0 with a 19-17 close-call victory over Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor, setting the table for another epic showdown with Ohio State. Both teams stayed undefeated through 11 weeks and chaos around them in the College Football Playoff picture has opened the door for each to still make the playoff.
Plenty of reactions came in locally and nationally after the contest was over. Here is a sampling of the reviews that came in from the contest, big-picture narratives and more.
The Wolverine’s Michigan vs. Illinois postgame show
TheWolverine.com’s Chris Balas
Michigan 19, Illinois 17: Notes, quotes, and observations — character revealed
For the “how dare Jim Harbaugh have a tight game on senior day in frigid conditions with his banged-up team and make me uncomfortable for four hours” crowd, this one is borderline unacceptable. There were missed passes, dropped passes, no viable backup at running back after Blake Corum went down given Donovan Edwards’ absence … heck, even the usually reliable punter, grad student Brad Robbins, struggled in his last game at the Big House.
Illinois running back Chase Brown got it working in the second half, “exposing” the Michigan run defense in the third quarter. Even Tommy DeVito, who some were jokingly referring to as Danny’s big, little brother during the week, got the passing game going a bit — and into the wind, no less.
No doubt about it — after yet another outstanding start for the Wolverines (our John Borton quipped of the offense, “forget scripting just the first drive — maybe they should script the first 50 plays”), Illinois outplayed Michigan for a significant stretch.
And we tip our cap to the Fighting Illini and Bret Bielema, whose team played a fantastic game. This team resembled some of his old Wisconsin teams in fighting from start to finish for a nice, moral victory.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh wasn’t in any mood to apologize. He saw it for what it was … an 11th straight win without a loss.
That just doesn’t happen often, folks, especially at Michigan. If you can’t enjoy that, maybe being a college football fan isn’t for you.
ESPN.com staff picks the CFP
Blake Baumgartner: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. TCU
Bill Connelly: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. TCU
Heather Dinich: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. TCU 4. Michigan
David Hale: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. TCU 4. Michigan
Chris Low: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. TCU
Harry Lyles Jr.: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. TCU
Ryan McGee: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. TCU 4. USC
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. TCU
Alex Scarborough: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. TCU 4. Michigan
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. TCU 4. Michigan
Tom VanHaaren: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. TCU
Dave Wilson: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Michigan 4. TCU
ESPN.com’s David M. Hale
Pac-12 After Dark delivers with USC-UCLA center stage, CFP contenders hang on in Week 12
At Michigan, the Wolverines were without RB Donovan Edwards and Heisman Trophy candidate Blake Corum went down early in the second half with a knee injury, all of which made finding the end zone something akin to a Where’s Waldo puzzle for Jim Harbaugh’s offense. (Like Dykes’ special-teams scramble, we also assume Harbaugh practices Where’s Waldo puzzles daily.) Michigan had six second-half possessions. One resulted in a punt, one a 10-play drive thwarted by a failed fourth-down try at the Illinois 37 and four others with a field goal.
Lucky for Michigan, it has arguably the best kicker in the country.
Trailing by a touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter, Michigan got field goals of 41, 33 and a 35-yard game winner from Jake Moody. The final series involved two dangerous throws from McCarthy — one into the end zone that just missed the outstretched arms of Illinois DB Devon Witherspoon and the other batted into the air at the line of scrimmage, and Michigan survived.
That whooshing sound you might’ve heard after those last-second field goals? That was the playoff committee breathing an enormous sigh of relief. Oh, how close we came to chaos but Dykes cut the right wire, and Harbaugh landed the plane.
There were so many ways this could’ve gone wrong. Probably should have gone wrong. And yet, here we are, the playoff picture tattered and worn, but still in one piece.
ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich
How Tennessee’s loss affects the College Football Playoff
The best-case scenario for the East Division runner-up would include Georgia winning the SEC and eliminating LSU, a Pac-12 winner with multiple losses, and a TCU loss, either on Saturday at home against Iowa State or in the Big 12 title game. If the Pac-12 winner has multiple losses, the loser of The Game could join Georgia, the Big Ten champ and even one-loss TCU as a Big 12 champion.
The Buckeyes have the better shot without a division title, in large part because they would still have two wins against CFP Top 25 opponents in Penn State and Notre Dame. The win against Notre Dame could be critical because Ohio State would likely be compared against ACC champion Clemson, which lost 35-14 at Notre Dame on Nov. 5. The selection committee compares results against common opponents as one of the tiebreakers, along with strength of schedule, and Ohio State could trump the Tigers in both of those categories. It’s also possible, especially given how well South Carolina played Saturday against Tennessee, that Clemson loses its regular-season finale to the Gamecocks.
If Michigan loses, its only win against a ranked opponent would be Oct. 15 vs. Penn State, and the Wolverines’ unconvincing performance Saturday in the win against Illinois would raise some eyebrows in the room. The committee would consider Michigan’s injuries, especially with star running back Blake Corum out for the second half, but that highlighted some deficiencies in the passing game, including some overthrows and drops. If the committee thinks Michigan is “unequivocally” one of the four best teams in the country, though, it’s not beholden to the tiebreakers.
CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah
All eyes will be on The Game as No. 2 Ohio State hosts No. 3 Michigan with a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game on the line, and while a College Football Playoff spot is also up for grabs, more hardware could be coming to a player from the winning side.
This remains one of the murkiest Heisman races in a while, but it will be decided on the field at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud remains the betting favorite — according to Caesars Sportsbook — to win the award despite an inconsistent season. If the Buckeyes recover and avenge the loss from last season, Stroud will take home the coveted trophy. However, if Michigan running back Blake Corum is healthy and the Wolverines win, the award will be his.
The Game has carried massive stakes before, even as recent as last season, but the 2022 iteration will go down in the history books as one of the biggest college football games ever — for a few reasons.
The Athletic’s Max Olson
Saturday Takeaways: Will Ohio State flip a switch? Who’s stopping Caleb Williams?
The biggest reason for that concern is simple and obvious: injuries. The Ohio State run game has been hit hard. TreVeyon Henderson was supposed to make his comeback against Maryland after missing two games. He got 11 carries for 19 yards and was back in his walking boot in the second half. Day said he had a great week of practice, but he didn’t look comfortable in this game. Miyan Williams was held out as well and is working diligently to get back. Their absence did open the door for an important development. Freshman back Dallan Hayden ran hard in the second half and took a big step forward with 146 yards and three scores.
Clearly, though, the Buckeyes need this run game to be fully operational against Michigan, and Day needs to be able to trust that they can run the ball and move the chains in short-yardage situations. Hayden converted a couple of times on third down, but Day also had C.J. Stroud throw on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter of a three-point game. What does that say?
This offense is also missing Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has barely played all season, and it’s hard to know at this point whether a comeback against Michigan is in the cards. It will need all the help it can get against the best defense in college football. Ohio State has scored 40-plus on every Big Ten foe except for Northwestern. The Buckeyes have put up their fair share of style points. Jim Knowles’ defense has had quite a few excellent outings. Lathan Ransom’s blocked punt and Zach Harrison’s game-clinching strip sack were the kind of clutch moments that inspire optimism. This team has every right to be confident going into the week it has long awaited.
The Athletic’s Austin Meek
Meek: For Michigan, the game before The Game brings a scare, then relief
To state the obvious, it’s hard to imagine Michigan beating Ohio State without Corum at full health, or close to it. The passing game has been too unreliable, and the running game didn’t accomplish much against Illinois once Corum went down.
With the possible exception of Chase Brown, who ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns against Michigan’s top-ranked run defense, it would be hard to find a running back who has meant more to his team than Corum. With 108 yards in a little more than two quarters, he notched his eighth consecutive 100-yard game and topped the 1,400-yard mark for the season. Anyone hoping for a competitive game next week should wish for Corum’s speedy recovery.
Right now it’s still an “if,” but if Corum is at full speed against the Buckeyes, don’t discount Michigan’s chances. It’s true that, aside from a few stretches, Michigan hasn’t been hitting on all cylinders lately. The passing game continues to be a source of frustration, with Michigan’s wide receivers struggling to get separation and quarterback J.J. McCarthy missing a few throws each game.
A lot of the same things were said about Michigan’s passing game a year ago, and the Wolverines still hung 42 on Ohio State. They’re built to run the ball, and if they can get Corum and Edwards healthy this week, they should have opportunities to run on Ohio State.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde
College Kickers Save the Day—and the Playoff Hopes—of Michigan, TCU
College kickers are their own punchline, with their own hashtag that is invoked on social media weekly. They are maddeningly mortal and endearingly human, capable of missing many kicks that are routinely made at the NFL level. But college kickers can be heroes, too, and a pair of them rescued their teams’ undefeated seasons within minutes of each other Saturday afternoon.
At 3:12 p.m. ET, Griffin Kell sent a 40-yard field goal into the Waco air and through the uprights at McLane Stadium to lift TCU past Baylor. At 3:33 p.m., Jake Moody lofted a 35-yard field goal into the Ann Arbor air with a ripping wind at his back to save Michigan against Illinois. Under massive pressure, the kids got it done.
“Legend,” Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh said of Moody, who made four field goals on the day and became the school’s career leader in that category. “I’ve been watching Michigan football since I was a kid. Pretty decent historian of Michigan football, and I am nominating him for legendary status.”
Both the Horned Frogs and Wolverines are now 11–0, moving a step closer to the College Football Playoff. Tough sledding is still ahead of them, but the mission remains intact by the thinnest of margins. Everything could have been lost if their kickers hadn’t come through.
Sporting News’ Bill Bender
College football rankings: Projecting 2022 Playoff picture after Tennessee’s loss in Week 12
The Wolverines survived a tough test from Illinois. Blake Corum (18 carries,108 yards, TD) left with a left knee injury in the second quarter. Corum returned briefly in the second half, but his status will be the lead conversation heading into the showdown with the Buckeyes. J.J. McCarthy (18 of 34, 208 yards) struggled in a windy day in Ann Arbor but did lead the game-winning field goal drive. The Wolverines’ playoff path is straight-forward now. A loss in Columbus likely would mean an appearance in the Rose Bowl instead of the CFP.