Can Illini stand up to Michigan?
If not for a perfectly timed "Y Shovel Cross," Illinois wouldn't own a single knockout of Michigan at Memorial Stadium in the last 50 years.
That's how horribly misshapen the Illini-Wolverines rivalry has grown over the years.
Michigan pounds lumps. Illinois accepts them, yet comes back for more. Why?
Perhaps because tonight's game, rife with Big Ten title ramifications and broadcast across the nation on ABC, can become one of those that sticks out like an orange-and-blue thumb.
You know, like the 16-6 win in 1983 that serves as the first "1" in Illinois' 1-20-1 home record against Michigan since 1959.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, with the Illini nursing a 7-6 lead, Hall of Fame receiver David Williams ran "Y Shove Cross" to perfection.
Lined up wide right on the Memorial Stadium turf, he crossed over the middle, caught a rifle pass from Jack Trudeau, and sprinted down the left sideline until he could dive into the end zone with his 46-yard prize.
"That had to be the most important catch of my collegiate career," Williams told the Daily Herald years ago. "Got the picture in Sports Illustrated. That was nice."
The ninth-ranked Illini made that lead hold up against the eighth-ranked Wolverines in the battle of Big Ten unbeatens -- and removed their last serious obstacle to the program's only Rose Bowl trip in the last 44 years.
Illinois needs a win tonight in order to keep this year's Rose Bowl hopes alive.
Michigan seemed like easier prey a month ago. That was before its current five-game winning streak, during which Northwestern has been the only team to hold a lead on the Wolverines.
"You've got to put all those things that happened to them in the beginning of the season aside," Illinois coach Ron Zook said. "Because all that's done, really, in my opinion, is just made them that much more hungry and more determined to prove to people that they're a great football team."
In that vein, Illinois only trailed for 13 seconds -- the time it took Arrelious Benn to return a kickoff for a score against Penn State -- during its five-game winning streak.
But that winning streak (and leading streak) came to an abrupt halt last week when Iowa scored its lone touchdown with six seconds left in the third quarter.
Though Illinois' defense allowed its fewest points in a Big Ten game since 2000, it couldn't earn the win because the offense didn't bring its "B" game.
"B," in this case, stood for blocking.
"Unlike what some people would say about us being out-schemed or us not adjusting, when you go and watch the tape, we didn't execute our perimeter blocking very well," said Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley. "The same plays we were able to make against the Indianas, the Wisconsins and the Penn States, we got beat out on the perimeter with our blocks -- which didn't allow us to execute."
Since Michigan's defensive schemes are more aggressive than Iowa's, Illinois' blocking must be that much better today in order to spring Rashard Mendenhall.
Michigan (5-2, 3-0) at Illinois (5-2, 3-1)
When: 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium
TV: Channel 7 Radio: WIND 560-AM
Series: Michigan 65-21-2
Coaches: Lloyd Carr (118-38, 13th year at Michigan); Ron Zook (9-21, third year at Illinois; 32-25 overall)
Players to watch: Michigan senior Mike Hart, the nation's leading rusher with 154 yards per game and perhaps the nation's leading Heisman candidate as well, seems likely to play after suffering an ankle injury last week against Purdue. And keep an eye on OLB Shawn Crable, who wears No. 2 and earned a Butkus Award semifinalist nod. Ron Zook hopes Martez Wilson, Illinois' No. 2, becomes like Crable someday. … Illinois junior RB Rashard Mendenhall dropped to 13th in the national rushing rankings (839 yards, 10 TDs) after last week's subpar showing against Iowa. Juice Williams will start at QB, but look for Eddie McGee to go in as a change of pace relatively early.
The skinny: While ESPN's television GameDay crew opted to set up shop outside the Florida-Kentucky game, ESPN's radio GameDay crew decided to come to town and broadcast all afternoon outside the Assembly Hall. That, at least, reminds everyone nationwide of today's high stakes. If only Illinois freshman Brian Gamble, Mark Jackson and Darryl Ballew had remembered. They've been suspended from the team after a Thursday morning incident outside a campus bar. While only Gamble plays at this juncture, he's the team's second-best slot receiver and could have helped.
-- Lindsey Willhite