What they're saying, predicting ahead of Michigan football vs. Illinois

Michigan Wolverines football will host Illinois Saturday at The Big House (noon ET on ABC). Here is a look around the internet at what they’re saying before kickoff.

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Media predicts outcome of U-M vs. Illinois

The Wolverine

Chris Balas: Michigan 34, Illinois 10

John Borton: Michigan 30, Illinois 13

Clayton Sayfie: Michigan 27, Illinois 14

Anthony Broome: Michigan 31, Illinois 12

Doug Skene: Michigan 35, Illinois 14

Wolverines Wire

Isaiah Hole: Michigan 30, Illinois 17

Trent Knoop: Michigan 31, Illinois 10

MLive

Ryan Zuke: Michigan 28, Illinois 10

Andrew Kahn: Michigan 27, Illinois 13

Aaron McMann: Michigan 31, Illinois 10

The Athletic

Bruce Feldman: Michigan 30, Illinois 10

Stewart Mandel: Michigan 34, Illinois 7

Detroit Free Press

Tony Garcia: Michigan 37, Illinois 17

Carlos Monarrez: Michigan 48, Illinois 13

Rainer Sabin: Michigan 27, Illinois 10

Jeff Seidel: Michigan 31, Illinois 15

The Detroit News

Matt Charboneau: Michigan 31, Illinois 17

Angelique S. Chengelis: Michigan 34, Illinois 17

John Niyo: Michigan 31, Illinois 17

Bob Wojnowski: Michigan 30, Illinois 10

Chris Balas, The Wolverine: Keys to the game: Michigan football vs. Illinois

Bret Bielema makes no bones about who he is or what he wants his teams to be, having proven it at Wisconsin. He wants to win the lines of scrimmage, run the ball down your throat (then open your mouth and, when there’s no room, make room and run it down there some more), and wear you down. 

In short, this team is Wisconsin-lite, and he appears to be on his way to building the program in his image. We’ll see if he can get to the level of success he had in Madison, but it’s a good first step. 

That said … he’s not there yet. This Illinois team is banged up beyond just Chase Brown. It doesn’t have the depth to just “plug in the next guy” and be as good, a luxury afforded a program like Michigan. 

There’s a reason Michigan is a three-score favorite. 

Expect another business-like win from the Wolverines as a prelude to next week’s climax in Columbus. And if Brown doesn’t play, it might get ugly.

Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: Wojo’s Pigskin Picks: For Michigan, Ohio State, one more pesky chore before the Big One

According to industry experts, the Wolverines are trying to pull off a remarkable feat, unprecedented in modern college football history. They’re attempting to go 11-0 without actually beating anybody.

Frankly, that’s not a completely fair characterization. Penn State was a somebody, until Michigan and Ohio State turned it into a nobody. Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan State used to regularly be somebodies, and it’s not Michigan’s fault they all abstained this year. But this is the Wolverines’ plight, slightly more than a week before they finally play somebody down in Columbus.

Hold on. I’m told they first have to play somebody else, and they’re strongly advised to treat Illinois as dutifully and dismissively as they’ve treated everyone else. No, this is not an organized scrimmage Saturday in the Big House, complete with on-field water breaks and autograph sessions. No, the Michigan band won’t spell out script I-l-l-i-n-i and dot three I’s to prepare for the trip to Ohio State. In this crazy season, the Wolverines can’t look past anyone, and they literally can’t look past (or around) Bret Bielema, Illinois’ plus-sized coach.

David Cobb, CBS Sports: Big Ten college football picks, odds in Week 12: Ohio State, U-M get final tune-ups before rivalry game

It’s dress rehearsal week for No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan as the Big Ten East rivals make their final preparations for their all-important showdown next week. The Buckeyes travel to Maryland as 27.5-point favorites while the Wolverines host Illinois as 18-point favorites in a game that, unfortunately, has lost some of its luster over the last couple of weeks.

When Illinois was 7-1 and ranked No. 14 after winning at Nebraska on Oct. 29, the Illini looked like they might be able to play the role of being a rare quality opponent on Michigan’s schedule. After losing two straight and falling from the College Football Playoff Rankings, however, the Illini are looking more like the other mediocre Big Ten teams the Wolverines have been beating up on this season.

Illinois’ fall from national prominence only heightens the importance of next week’s game at Ohio State for Michigan, which will likely be unable to sustain a loss against the Buckeyes and still reach the College Football Playoff. Were Illinois entering this week’s game 9-1, perhaps a win over the Illini would give Michigan some insulation against a loss next week. But that was not in the cards.

Ohio State is in slightly better shape because of its Week 1 victory over a Notre Dame team that is No. 18 in the CFP Rankings. That win may keep the Buckeyes in the CFP conversation should they lose against Michigan next week. But enough about next week and beyond. There are seven games to play in the Big Ten this week, and we’ve got picks for each of them.

Bruce Feldman, The Athletic: College football picks against the spread: Bruce Feldman’s Week 12 picks

Is this a trap game for the Wolverines with Ohio State up next? I feel like Michigan is so dialed in right now and living in the moment. Plus, the Illini ground game has been wearing down, averaging a decreasing number of yards per carry in each of its last five games — from 4.4 per carry against Iowa on Oct. 8 to 3.1 in last week’s loss to Purdue.

Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press: Michigan football’s national ascent has yet to translate into big recruiting wins. Why?

As Harbaugh was quick to mention, the Wolverines “put more stock into the fit.”

It may explain why Michigan doesn’t have a top-100 prospect in its 2023 portfolio, and holds fewer blue-chippers than in-state rival Michigan State.

Then again, the underwhelming results to this point may be the byproduct of multiple phenomena that can be blamed on Michigan’s self-inflicted mistakes. This has left others to speculate why the Wolverines have prevailed so frequently on the field but haven’t experienced the same success on the recruiting trail.

The ride has been great these past two years, as Harbaugh noted. But with the early signing period fast approaching, it remains unclear why so many top prospects have yet to hop on with the Wolverines.  

“I just feel like guys are finalizing their decisions,” Herring said. “I feel like we’re going to get some of them to come and join this class.”

Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press: U-M football vs. Illinois: Scouting report, prediction

Potential trap game?: Everybody knows the Wolverines’ season comes down to next week’s showdown at the Horseshoe against Ohio State. Even if Michigan loses Saturday, a win in Columbus gets them into the Big Ten title game, and a Big Ten title gets them into the College Football Playoff (though a Big Team champion U-M squad with a loss to Illinois might miss out on a CFP berth).

On top of that, Illinois looks nothing like the tough test that it appeared to be when it got into the top 15 in the CFP rankings, having lost to a middling Michigan State team and an up-and-down Purdue squad. Also, it’s senior night for a class that was the leaders in turning the program around.

Red zone the key: With both teams looking to control the pace of the game, and the clock, with their ground games, this has the makings of what could be a contest with limited possessions. With fewer chances on offense, it makes maximizing points paramount and that’s something the Wolverines have gotten better with of late. In the last two weeks the Wolverines have scored nine touchdowns and two field goals on 11 red zone trips (one of those kicks was forced when time ran out in the first half). If Michigan can score touchdowns on more than half of its trips inside the 20, then there should be no problem playing its style of football and grinding out the clock.

Austin Meek, The Athletic: Jesse Minter has Michigan’s defense humming. Are the Wolverines ready for the final step?

Any evaluation of Michigan’s defense has to acknowledge the woeful state of many Big Ten offenses, as well as the three teams Michigan faced in nonconference play.

Hawaii, Michigan State, Indiana, Rutgers, UConn, Colorado State and Iowa all rank No. 100 or lower in total offense. That’s 70 percent of Michigan’s schedule. The other teams are Penn State (No. 35), Maryland (No. 69) and Nebraska, which is ranked No. 86 and was down to its third-string quarterback.

In the first 10 games of last season, Michigan faced four teams that finished the year in the top 50 of the FBS in total offense: No. 12 Western Michigan, No. 22 Nebraska and two teams tied at No. 43, Michigan State and Northern Illinois. Penn State and Wisconsin weren’t great, but at least they ranked in the top 100. Michigan’s 2022 schedule makes that lineup look intimidating.

Saturday’s game against Illinois should be a stiffer test. Running back Chase Brown leads the FBS with 1,442 rushing yards and is “trending in the right direction,” according to coach Bret Bielema, after an injury scare in last week’s loss to Purdue. Michigan’s defense should get at least a moderate step up in competition before the biggest challenge of the season.

Minter has done an admirable job of making Michigan fans forget about losing their defensive coordinator. The Wolverines have been able to replicate much of last season’s success, but to finish the job, they will have to replicate the final step.