What they’re saying about Michigan football after loss at Illinois

The Michigan Wolverines are 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in Big Ten play after a 21-7 loss at Illinois on Saturday afternoon, casting plenty of doubt on the short and long-term outlooks of the program. In the aftermath of the defeat, there was no shortage of opinions on the program and head coach Sherrone Moore.

Here is a sampling of what local and national voices said after the second loss in a row.

Ryan Van Bergen, The Wolverine postgame show

Michigan vs. Illinois postgame show: Loss marks a fall from grace for Wolverines, Sherrone Moore

“I think this answers any remaining questions that we may have had as to how far has this team fallen from being not only national champions last year, but three-time Big Ten Champions,” Van Bergen said. “The expectation, with Jim Harbaugh leaving and taking what he took with him, J.J. McCarthy going to the NFL….the expectations, I think, were throttled. Especially with the tough schedule that we have this year. But the expectations were not that we would fall so far that we wouldn’t seem competitive with an Illinois, or an Indiana, or a Nebraska. Or some of these teams that are been running in the middle of the Big Ten.

“So to me, this was after a bye week, after Jack Tuttle, who supposedly has been the guy that we’ve been holding back due to injury. He was supposed to be some sort of a catalyst for this offense, according to the coaching staff, not according to us, to have the bye week to have Jack Tuttle healthy. And for those four quarters to be the best offensive performance that we can get out of these guys to me, the red flags are fully flown, run them all the way up the pole. Concern levels should be at an all-time high.

“There’s no more excuses. We’re in the middle of the season, and you should have been seeing improvement. And we haven’t seen that improvement. For Sherrone Moore, I think you’ve got to do some things if you want to maintain your job and your position and shake things up and make it public and let the chips fall where they may. I mean, at this point, it’s time to see some young guys getting some opportunities.”

Chris Balas, The Wolverine

Illinois 21, Michigan 7: Notes, quotes, and observations — red flags abound

For years, there was a saying columnists and writers on the Michigan beat used when things were going uncharacteristically poorly on a football Saturdays — “That’s not Michigan football.” It usually involved dumb penalties, turnovers, etc., and often was corrected either in weeks following or at least by the end of the year.

Then came the Rich Rodriguez era, followed by three tough years under Brady Hoke after a one-season reprieve. Since, “that’s not Michigan football” has been replaced with, “This looks like a [Rodriguez or Hoke] team,” obviously not meant as a positive.

For a half in Champaign Saturday, Michigan took traits from some of the worst of both those eras. Ridiculous pass interference penalties, more short punts, head-shaking coaching decisions, and — of course — the turnovers (3), the ultimate sign of a poor football team. There are several holdovers from last year’s national championship team, and the assumption was that DNA, culture, and some elite players would help this squad overcome its shortcomings and loss of elite talent.

In short — it hasn’t. In fact, the “give a damn” quotient appears to be one of the problems on this team after its latest loss, an embarrassing, 21-7 setback at Illinois that led to the latest fan field rush vs. the Michigan junior varsity.

Austin Meek, The Athletic

Michigan takeaways: QB change does little at Illinois as season outlook gets gloomier

Illinois put a lot into Saturday’s game, which was the 100th anniversary celebration for the dedication of Memorial Stadium and Red Grange’s 402-yard performance against Michigan in 1924. It made the day even sweeter that Illinois was able to get payback against the team that streamrolled the rest of the Big Ten for three years running.

With the Wolverines faltering, the rest of the teams on their schedule will be eager to capitalize. That will continue next week against Michigan State, a team with plenty of pent-up frustration directed at its in-state rival. The hope of a midseason reset is gone, and Michigan’s prospects are getting bleaker by the week. Getting to 6-6 and qualifying for a bowl game is no longer a given for the reigning national champions.

“We need to keep fighting and show some frickin’ grit for Michigan and the school, our team,” Tuttle said. “That’s what we need to do right now.”

Angelique Chengelis, The Detroit News

Michigan left to reassess its season after dispiriting loss at Illinois

It’s hard to decipher where Michigan goes now. The Wolverines have started three quarterbacks and now have three losses, including two straight on the road, and it is anybody’s guess how the Wolverines will avoid the spiral they said they planned to avoid.

The 24^th-ranked Wolverines, ranked No. 9 in the preseason poll coming off a national championship, will drop out of the rankings after being outcoached and out-played in a 21-7 loss at No. 22 Illinois at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.  Michigan (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) had big hopes of making the expanded postseason playoff, but now the Wolverines must find other motivation. Illinois is 6-1, 3-1.

A lot went wrong for the Wolverines, who had Jack Tuttle as their third quarterback to start this season. Among the issues, they had three turnovers, including two first-half fumbles, then late in the second half, they got no points off two long drives, one that went 15 plays and used nearly nine minutes and another that went 69 yards on 12 plays and used 5:24, and they were stunned by a fake punt early in the second half that ultimately led to an Illinois touchdown.

Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press

Sherrone Moore has a lot to prove in final 5 weeks of Michigan football’s season

Forget, for a moment, the recruiting, and whether Michigan football’s new head coach will be able to bring high-end talent to Ann Arbor. Forget, also, the quarterback — the three-headed struggle Sherrone Moore has rolled out in U-M’s first seven games this season. 

Should Moore have known his quarterback play would be so abysmal this season? 

Of course, but then doing something about it after he was hired last winter was never going to be easy. If it were, every big-named program would have a top-shelf a quarterback every season, and every time a new coach is hired. 

And that doesn’t happen.  

Now, if Moore can’t find a quarterback for next season? There won’t be a season after that … for him.  

But that’s getting ahead of this moment, and the story of the season, which isn’t just about the lack of capable quarterback play. It’s about Moore’s lack of feel for how best to use his roster, especially on the offensive side. 

Nobody expected a title before the season started. Nobody expected a 5-7 record, either, which is where U-M could easily find itself at the end of next month if nothing changes.

David Hale, ESPN.com

College football Week 8 highlights: Top plays, games, takeaways

Despite two ugly losses and a complete lack of a coherent passing attack, Michigan remained in the AP poll this week. That should change after Saturday’s 21-7 defeat at the hands of Illinois.

Michigan has now lost as many times in its past six games as it had in the prior three seasons, though Saturday’s mess was especially cruel. Illinois prevailed despite its starting quarterback, Luke Altmyer, completing just 9 of 18 throws for 80 yards, leading an incredulous Sherrone Moore to ask why that type of QB production never works for Michigan.

After Week 8, the two teams that played for last year’s national championship — Michigan and the Washington Huskies — are now 8-6 in 2024.

Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire

Five takeaways from Michigan football 21-7 loss to Illinois

Though some of the rotations were odd, you have to give credit to the defense for doing as much as it did. Even without star cornerback Will Johnson for most of the game, the pass defense — which had given up a lot to competent passers — kept Luke Altmyer to 50% passing and 80 yards. The rush defense was mostly good (while there were 187 allowed yards on 38 attempts, 36 yards came on a chunk play given up by special teams). As moribund as the Michigan offense has been and continues to be, the defense held Illinois to nearly the same amount of total yards. And 10 points came off turnovers and another 8 via the special teams lapse.

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