Michigan Looks To Lock Up Bowl Eligibility

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan can lock up bowl eligibility this weekend when the Wolverines travel to hapless Illinois, but they're mindful of an embarassing loss to that team last year in Ann Arbor.

"A lot of our guys played against this team last year, when they moved the ball up and down the field pretty easily on us," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said Monday. "It's going to a pretty easy sell to convince our guys that this isn't going to be a cakewalk."

Michigan (5-3, 1-3 Big Ten) has lost three straight Big Ten games, including a 35-10 rout by Penn State at Michigan Stadium last Saturday. The streak is bringing back unwanted echoes of last season's 3-9 disaster.

"It wasn't a very good performance," Rodriguez said. "We've done a lot of positive things this year, but we took a step backward on Saturday."

Despite the rough stretch - the team's only win in October is a 63-6 mismatch with FCS Delaware State - the Wolverines will still be favored when they take on Illinois (1-6, 0-5), which beat them 45-20 last year.

Last season, it was Illinois quarterback Juice Williams who led the Illinois rout. He ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns while throwing for 310 more yards and two scores. Williams has struggled this season, but the Wolverines still know what he is capable of doing.

"They've got a lot of the same players as last year, so I thought they would be dominant this year," said defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen. "Juice has such a great technique in the spread offense - he knows all the reads and he knows all of the holes to hit."

Michigan's defense has had trouble this year, and Penn State quarterback Darryll Clark said the Wolverines looked confused on some snaps, but Van Bergen thought that was overstating the case.

"I don't know exactly what he saw, but I don't think we were confused. There might have been some delay with getting into our coverages a couple times, but that's not confusion," he said. "Our problem is that we are inconsistent. We're giving up too many big plays. That's what we have to fix."

Michigan center David Molk tore his right ACL and will miss the rest of the season as well as spring practice. Molk had just returned from a broken foot when he sustained the non-contact injury early in the Penn State loss.

"It didn't have anything to do with the foot injury. He just planted the wrong way and it went," Rodriguez said. "It's unfortunate for him and for the team. He's one of our best offensive players and someone is going to have to step up to replace him."

David Moosman, who had replaced Molk during his original injury, moved back to center from his starting right guard spot, but had a rough game. A miscommunication between him and quarterback Tate Forcier led to a safety when Moosman's snap sailed past an unprepared Forcier and out of the end zone, and a poor snap caused Michigan to settle for a field goal at the end of the first half.

"It was a great five plays back at guard, but it looks like center is my full-time job now," Moosman said. "I've had some bad plays, and those have got to be behind me. We're turning the ball over too much, and I'm a big part of that."

Michigan is also dealing with injuries to two wide receivers. Martavious Odoms has a swollen knee, while Junior Hemingway sustained a bruised knee in a freak collision with teammate Donovan Warren.

"Odoms isn't going to practice today, and we're listing him as day-to-day," Rodriguez said. "Junior looks like he's going to be OK, and he should be able to do a lot of work today."