muck fichigan: 2nd year in a row

The last time Illinois had back-to-back wins against Michigan? 1957 & 1958.

The last time Illinois beat the Wolverines in Champaign? 10/29/1983. 24 days before I was born. Today, 60,119 people were there in Memorial Stadium to see it happen again.

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Last year, Illinois was coming off a Rose Bowl berth and had huge hopes. They lost their first game to Missouri by 10 and lost by 14 to Penn State in their first Big Ten game. But it wasn't a terrible season. We beat Iowa by 3, Indiana by 42 and beat Michigan 45-20 in the Big House.

This year, on the other hand, is a terrible season. Coming into today Illinois was 0-6 against 1-A teams, and ranked below 100 (there are 120 1-A [aka FBS] teams) in such unimportant categories as passing yards. Plus, this Michigan team isn't the same team that lost to Appalachian State. They beat Notre Dame and just two weeks ago beat a team 63-6.

And we crushed them!

500 yards of total offense. (Last year it was 501.) We rushed it 56 times at 6.7 yards a carry. That's 377 on the ground--of course it helps your average when you rip off 70 and 79 yard touchdown runs. Juice only had to throw it 11 times and got 8 for 123 and a score. We were +3 in turnovers. And that doesn't even count the goal-line stand turnover on downs.

At least 4 times, Michigan had the ball in the red zone in the second half:

1st and goal from ILL 1 (Mich 13-7) Result: turnover on downs
1st and goal from ILL 10 (Ill 28-13) Result: sack, fumble on 3rd down
1st and 10 from ILL 14 (Ill 31-13) Result: turnover on downs
1st and 10 from ILL 15 (Ill 31-13) Result: forced fumble on 1st down

Getting to 1-6 against 1-A opponents doesn't salvage a season. But there is some delicious irony. Back in 2001, our Sugar Bowl team, Michigan was our only regular season loss. Even when we were good, the Wolverines were the thorn in our side, the team that we considered our biggest rival and would beat us without even getting excited about it. And now? We stink and two years in a row we have made Michigan our whipping boy. The games haven't even been close.

Think about the Illinois sophomore students. Their football team is a collective 7-13 over two seasons. But Illinois has outscored Michigan 83-33 and is 2-0.