Wolverines' ground attack dominates second half

 

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• Michigan vs. Illinois

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	23	19
Total Yards	408	254
Passing	114	156
Rushing	294	98
Penalties	10-86	2-7
3rd Down Conversions	10-20	5-16
4th Down Conversions	2-4	1-2
Turnovers	2	4
Possession	36:36	23:24

Individual Leaders

Michigan Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Henne 14/27 114 1 2	Illinois Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Beutjer 20/39 156 1 3
Michigan Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Hart 40 234 1 32 Martin 12 67 1 21 Breaston 1 9 0 9	Illinois Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Thomas 20 68 1 14 Davis 6 15 0 6 Beutjer 4 15 0 18
Michigan Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Avant 3 48 0 21 Hart 3 23 0 8 Edwards 3 18 0 10 Breaston 2 7 0 5	Illinois Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Davis 7 69 0 13 Thomas 7 26 1 13 Jones 2 22 0 15 Payne 2 20 0 16

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				MICH	ILL
	FG	13:30	GARRETT RIVAS 31 YD FG Drive info: 4 plays, 6 yards.	3	0
	TD	6:45	MAX MARTIN 1 YD RUN (GARRETT RIVAS KICK) Drive info: 13 plays, 62 yards.	10	0
SECOND QUARTER				MICH	ILL
	TD	7:27	PIERRE THOMAS 2 YD PASS FROM JON BEUTJER (JASON REDA KICK) Drive info: 11 plays, 77 yards.	10	7
	TD	3:54	PIERRE THOMAS 1 YD RUN (JASON REDA KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 28 yards.	10	14
	FG	0:05	JASON REDA 40 YD FG Drive info: 8 plays, 14 yards.	10	17
THIRD QUARTER				MICH	ILL
	TD	7:49	TYLER ECKER 1 YD PASS FROM CHAD HENNE (MISSED KICK) Drive info: 2 plays, 6 yards.	16	17
	TD	0:54	CHAD HENNE 2 YD RUN (FAILED 2PT PASS) Drive info: 10 plays, 86 yards.	22	17
FOURTH QUARTER				MICH	ILL
	TD	8:54	MIKE HART 4 YD RUN (JASON AVANT 2PT PASS FROM CHAD HENNE) Drive info: 16 plays, 91 yards.	30	17
	S	0:03	TEAM SAFETY	30	19

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Michael Hart says he wants the ball all the time. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is happy to oblige his freshman running back.

Hart carried 40 times for 234 yards Saturday in the Wolverines' 30-19 victory over Illinois, a game in which Michigan (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) rallied from a halftime deficit by outscoring the Illini 20-2 in the second half. Hart also caught three passes from Chad Henne for 23 yards.

"They're starting to get a lot of confidence in me," he said.

Hart ran for 127 yards and fellow freshman Max Martin added 60 yards rushing in the second half as the Wolverines kept the ball on the ground after two interceptions of Henne led to a 17-10 halftime deficit.

Michigan threw only nine passes and rushed 39 times after the intermission.

"Our line did a great job opening up holes for Mike Hart and Max Martin," said Henne. "They ran hard and that's what you need from them."

The Wolverines wound up with 294 yards rushing. Henne was 14-for-27 for 114 yards and one touchdown.

Michigan (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) won its fifth straight. The Illini (2-5, 0-4) haven't won in the conference since the last game of the 2002 season.

"We played really well in the first half, offensively and defensively. But then we kind of fell apart in the second half," said Illinois quarterback Jon Beutjer.

After Michigan had built a 10-0 lead, Beutjer led an 11-play, 77-yard TD drive and then the Illini defense went to work.

A 62-yard interception return by freshman Justin Harrison set up Pierre Thomas' 1-yard TD run that gave the Illini a 14-10 lead with 7:27 to go in the half.

On the next Michigan series, a pass bounced off receiver Justin Avant and into the hands of Illinois cornerback Kelvin Hayden, who returned it 28 yards. Eight plays later, Jason Reda kicked a 40-yard field goal to make it 17-10.

But the second half belonged to Michigan's defense, which held Illinois to only 98 yards rushing for the game and picked off three of Beutjer's passes. The first, by linebacker Scott McClintock, led to a touchdown and came three plays after Michigan was stopped on fourth-and-3 at the Illinois 19.

"It was great timing because it was at a point when we needed some momentum," McClintock said. "I was in my drop and it came right to me."

A missed extra point kept Illinois ahead 17-16.

"We were still feeling good about where we were," said Illini receiver Mark Kornfeld.

But the Illini went three and out and Michigan put together a 10-play, 86-yard drive on its next possession, with Henne running the final 2 yards for a touchdown to give the Wolverines a 22-17 lead.

They made it 30-17 when Hart dove in from 4 yards out, reaching his arm over the goal line after it appeared he had been stopped on third down. Because instant replay can be used in the Big Ten this season to review such plays, the replay official took another look before upholding the call on the field.

"I think he didn't score, but there's not much you can do about it," said defensive end Mike O'Brien, who was in on the tackle.

Illinois marched 74 yards after taking over with 3:30 to go, but a Beutjer pass to the end zone on third-and-goal from the 4 was picked off, again by McClintock, ending Illinois' hopes.

Michigan took a safety rather than punt the ball away with 3 seconds remaining.

Beutjer finished 20-of-39 for 156 yards. Thomas led the Illini in rushing with 68 yards.

"We have to keep playing and keep fighting," Illinois coach Ron Turner said after his team's fourth straight loss. "We did some good things today at times, but we have to do it for 60 minutes."