Illini drag Michigan back to Big Ten's bottom

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Michigan and Illinois started the day Saturday in very different positions, one looking for a win that would punch their ticket for the post season and the other groping to find some way to end a five-game losing streak.

After a 38-13 Illinois upset, the Wolverines and the Illini have a little more in common, though they appear headed in different directions.

The Illini (2-6, 1-5) have their first Big Ten win, finally got the kind of game they thought they'd play all year long and maybe, just maybe, found the kind of running back in Mikel LeShoure they've been looking for since Rashard Mendenhall packed his bags for the Steelers two seasons ago.

Michigan (5-4, 1-4) has lost two in a row and has three shots at getting the sixth win that would make the Wolverines bowl eligible, but two of those games are against Wisconsin and Ohio State.

"We're still coming in every day trying to work and get better," said linebacker Stevie Brown, disappointed after being flagged for interference in his own end zone, a call that set up Illinois' third touchdown and put the Illini up 21-13.

Wolverine players said last week that they didn't understand why Illinois had lost five in a row, given that most of the Illini who beat Michigan 45-20 last year in Ann Arbor were back. But there wasn't much doubt that Illinois — which hadn't beaten Michigan at home since 1983 — should have been the easiest game left on the Michigan schedule.

Instead, Michigan gave up 500 yards of offense — 377 of it on the ground — and lost three fumbles.

"We just didn't play well defensively, and the missed tackles were upsetting," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. "But what's more upsetting to me is when the ball is on the ground and it seems like it's there for an eternity, and we weren't able to get on it. We've got to look at everything we're doing and try to fix it before next weekend."

With Saturday's win and Penn State and Ohio State already behind it, Illinois is looking at a Big Ten schedule that offers some reasons for optimism. Only Minnesota and Northwestern remains, though the Illinois still have non-conference dates with Fresno State and Cincinnati.