With their College Football Playoff hope dashed, Michigan’s players are tasked with recalibrating their motivations for a daunting six-game slate ahead.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As Illinois fans filed on to Memorial Stadium’s field, basking in the Fighting Illini’s first ranked-vs.-ranked home win since 1991 and their first win over the Wolverines since 2009, the Michigan football team exited stage right, both literally on the field and figuratively in its season.
Two weeks after turnovers, missed opportunities and general offensive ineptitude had cost the Wolverines in a loss at Washington, Saturday was a carbon copy right down to the sold-out crowd storming the field. After Illinois gave up 49 points to Purdue last week, Michigan mustered just seven Saturday, even with six drives ending in Illini territory. The Wolverines lost the turnover battle, 3-0, negating a yardage margin of 55 in Michigan’s favor. The Illini never trailed, and didn’t even need to play their best football to score a two-touchdown win.
In many ways, the Wolverines’ losses at Washington and Illinois were the same, even with a bye week in between. But dropping to 4-3, its worst seven-game record since 2014, Michigan’s loss to the Illini did have one major difference: A third loss marked the final nail in the coffin of the Wolverines’ hopes of making the College Football Playoff…