It’s a crossover battle in the Big Ten as a pair of teams meet in the Great Lakes State at the Big House. The #21 Illinois Fighting Illini are on the road looking to pull an upset as they face the #3 Michigan Wolverines Saturday afternoon. Illinois comes in off a 31-24 home loss to Purdue in their previous contest, losing outright as a 6.5-point favorite, last Saturday. Michigan remained unbeaten as they rolled past Nebraska 34-3 at home last Saturday, pushing the line as they were a 31-point favorite at kickoff. In the all-time series between the programs, the Wolverines own a 71-23-2 advantage and have won the last five meetings. That includes a 42-25 victory on the road in the most recent matchup on October 12, 2019.
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Illinois suffered their second straight loss as they were unable to find a way to pick up a win at home against Purdue last week. The Fighting Illini dropped to 7-3 overall and stand 4-3 in the Big Ten West on the season with the loss. Against Purdue, Illinois led 7-0 after the opening quarter, stood tied at 14 at the half and at 21 after three quarters before giving up 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. The Fighting Illini couldn’t get on the board in the final stanza until just 17 seconds remained, leaving them on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Illinois was outgained 379-303 in total offense, gave up 25 first downs while recording 18 and lost time of possession by a 32:15 to 27:45 margin in the contest. Both teams turned the ball over once in the game.
The Fighting Illini come into this game 86th in the FBS in passing offense with 218.6 yards per game while they stand 40th in rushing offense with 183.6 yards per contest. Illinois is 89th in the FBS in scoring offense as they average 24.7 points per contest while they are 3rd in the country in scoring defense by allowing 12.5 points per game. Tommy DeVito is 201 of 287 passing for 2,083 yards with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has 79 rushing yards and four scores this season. Artur Sitkowski has hit 18 of 25 passes for 103 yards and an interception. Chase Brown is the leading ground gainer for the team with 280 carries for 1,442 yards and seven scores this season. Reggie Love III (46 carries, 188 yards, TD), Josh McCray (12 carries, 39 yards) and Chase Hayden (22 carries, 87 yards) are also in the mix as backups to Brown. Isaiah Williams leads the team with 64 receptions for 553 yards plus five scores this year. Brian Hightower (34 grabs, 428 yards, two TD), Pat Bryant (31 catches, 420 yards, two TD) and Brown (23 receptions, 173 yards, three TD) are o ther options in the passing game. Caleb Griffin has hit all 24 extra point attempts and is 10 of 14 on field goal attempts with a long of 48 this season. Fabrizio Pinton is two of three on extra points and seven of seven on field goal attempts with a long of 37 this year.