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Roy Roundtree’s big first half helped him break Jack Clancy’s 34-year-old Michigan receiving yardage record today.
Roundtree caught four passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, leaving him just five yards shy of Clancy’s mark. He then broke the record on his first catch of the second half, a 17-yard reception.
Roundtree currently has five catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns with under eight minutes left in the third quarter. Clancy’s mark was the oldest single-game record on the Michigan books.
Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has set another record.
The elusive signal-caller overcame two early interceptions to throw for a Michigan-record 262 yards and three touchdowns in the first half against Illinois. The game is tied at halftime, 31-31.
Robinson has completed just 7 of his 15 passes, but has been aided by four big plays, three of which went to receiver Roy Roundtree. Robinson hit Roundtree on a 75-yard touchdown to open the scoring—on Michigan’s first play from scrimmage.
With Michigan trailing 14-7 in the second quarter, Robinson thread a perfect strike to Roundtree again on a 4th-and-9 from the Illinois 33 that Roundtree took the distance to tie the score.
Then with the Illini leading once again 21-14, Robinson and Roundtree hooked up on a 75-yard play that setup Stephen Hopkin’s 4-yard plunge to tie the score. Robinson also threw a 45-yard touchdown to Junior Hemingway that gave Michigan a brief 28-21 lead.
Roundtree finished the half with 192 yards on four receptions and two touchdowns.
In all, Michigan and Illinois combined for 49 points in the second quarter alone and racked up 706 yards of total offense in the first half (394 for Michigan, 312 for Illinois).
Michigan's injury report is a bit longer than usual this week. J.T. Floyd had to be added since he is out for the season because of an ankle injury, and Mike Martin, Je'Ron Stokes and Perry Dorrestein are also on it this week, though they aren't out.
The players that are out this week are Fitzgerald Toussaint and the usual suspects who have previously suffered season-ending injuries. Floyd joins that group after suffering a season-ending injury during practice earlier this week. He, Mike Jones, Martavious Odoms, Jared Van Slyke, Mike Williams (he is out for at least this year) and Troy Woolfolk now compose that list. Toussaint, the other player out this week, has missed most of the season because of various injuries and is out again this week due to a shoulder issue that won't go away.
Questionable this week are Dorrestein and Stokes. Both are dealing with knee injuries and their status is up in the air for Saturday. If Dorrestein is unable to play, Mark Huyge will replace him in the starting lineup at right tackle.
Martin is the only player in the probable category for Saturday. He has been dealing with ankle injuries ever since the Michigan State game and hasn't been all that effective because of these injuries. He may play on Saturday, but whether or not he will actually be able to do all that much is an entirely different question.
FACTS & STATS: Site: Michigan Stadium (109,901) -- Ann Arbor, Michigan. Television:ESPN. Home Record: Illinois 4-1, Michigan 3-2. Away Record: Illinois 1-1, Michigan 2-1. Neutral Record: Illinois 0-1, Michigan 0-0. Conference Record: Illinois 3-2, Michigan 1-3. Series Record: Michigan leads, 66-23-2.
GAME NOTES: The Michigan Wolverines will try to put a stop to their downward spiral this weekend, as they host the Illinois Fighting Illini in Big Ten play at the Big House in Ann Arbor.
For the third straight game, the Wolverines were denied bowl eligibility, as they dropped a 41-31 decision at Penn State. Michigan, which has yet to earn a postseason berth in coach Rich Rodriguez's three-year tenure, has suffered three losses in a row since a 5-0 start catapulted the program into the Top 25.
As for the Illini, they are back on the grid following consecutive down campaigns. Illinois too needs just one more triumph to earn bowl eligibility after improving to 5-3 with a 44-10 spanking of Purdue last weekend. It was the second win in a row for the Illini, who trounced Indiana 43-13 the prior week.
This is the 92nd meeting between Michigan and Illinois on the gridiron, with the Wolverines holding a 66-23-2 advantage, including a 28-10-1 edge at the Big House.
The Illini turned in a balanced performance in their win over Purdue this past weekend, as they ran for 187 yards and threw for 204 more in the 44-10 decision. The ground attack is the strength of the this offense, averaging 194.4 ypg, and Mikel Leshoure leads the way with 780 yards and six TDs. Leshoure was limited to just 23 yards on 15 carries last weekend, but he did score three total TDs to make his presence felt. QB Nathan Scheelhaase, however, stole the show, as he completed 16-of-20 pass attempts for 195 yards and four TDs, in addition to rushing for 118 yards on 21 carries. It was a remarkable effort from Scheelhaase, who had passed for just six TDs going into the weekend. The dual-threat QB continues to be effective with his legs though and ranks second on the team with 451 rushing yards for the season.
Defensively, Illinois has been surprisingly good this season and has held three of its last four opponents to 13 points or less. Overall, the unit is giving up a mere 16.8 ppg on the year, while keeping foes to 301.4 total ypg. The Illini were terrific on defense last weekend, as they held Purdue to just 205 total yards and only nine first downs. Illinois surrendered just 52 yards through the air, while limiting Purdue to a dismal 2-of-14 effort on third downs. Martez Wilson played his part with four tackles and a fumble recovery and he tops the roster with 68 stops for the season.
Despite the loss to Penn State last weekend, QB Denard Robinson was once again spectacular, totaling 381 yards of offense and four TDs. The sophomore gunslinger was most effective with his legs, as he rushed for 191 yards and three scores. A remarkable athlete, Robinson has already established a new Big Ten rushing record for a QB with 1,287 yards and he has scored 12 times on the ground as well. He is by no means one-dimensional either, as Robinson has completed 65.1 percent of his tosses for another 10 TDs. Thanks to Robinson, the Wolverines are churning out 275.5 ypg on the ground and will certainly lean on their strength this weekend.
The big issue for Michigan has been its defense, which is giving up 440.2 total ypg. The Wolverines have surrendered 149.8 ypg and 18 TDs on the ground, but have been worse versus the pass, yielding 290.5 ypg. Despite playing without its starting QB, Penn State threw for 250 yards on 17-of-28 attempts in last weekend's win over Michigan. Another 185 yards came on the ground from the Penn State offense, which kept the Michigan defense on the field for over 37 minutes by going 10-of-16 on third downs. The defense also failed to come up with a single turnover and that has been an issue for Michigan, which has just nine takeaways to its credit. Jonas Mouton has done his part for the defense and he posted 12 tackles and a sack in last weekend's defeat. He now has a team-high 75 stops, to go with a pair of sacks and INTs for the season.
The Wolverines are back at home and should benefit from a big crowd expecting to see their program earn a crucial sixth win. Robinson should put on show for the home fans and carry the Wolverines to a much needed victory.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Michigan 38, Illinois 28
Saturday, November 6th, 12:00 p.m. (et)
Michigan Wins Shootout With Illinois, 67-65, In Triple Overtime
In what may have been the wildest game ever played in the 83-year history of Michigan Stadium, Michigan beat Illinois, 67-65 in triple overtime.
Tate Forcier hit Darryl Stonum for a nine-yard touchdown with 1:47 left to push the game into overtime. And in the third overtime period, the Wolverines’ defense finally made a big stop when needed, sacking Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase on a two-point conversion attempt.
The 132 combined points makes for the highest-scoring game in the 131-year history of Michigan football. 49 of those points were scored in the second quarter. The Wolverines and Fighting Illini were tied 31-31 at halftime. The lead changed hands five times.
Denard Robinson threw for 305 yards (including a school record 262 in the first half) and three touchdowns, while Forcier added another 113 yards and two scores. Robinson also threw two interceptions, with Forcier turning the ball twice on an interception and fumble.
Robinson also ran for 62 yards on 19 carries. Vincent Smith led the Wolverines with 74 yards rushing. Michael Shaw scored three touchdowns, and Stephen Hopkins added one more.
Receiver Roy Roundtree set a school record with 246 yards receiving on nine receptions with two touchdowns. That included a 75-yard scoring catch on Michigan’s first play from scrimmage. Junior Hemingway added six catches for 104 yards and another two scores.
For Illinois, Scheelhaase threw for 211 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for another 101 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Running back Mikel LeShoure ran for 120 yards and scored three times.
Altogether, the two teams combined for 1,251 yards of total offense.
With their sixth win of the season, the Wolverines broke a three-game losing streak and are bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Rich Rodriguez. Michigan is now 2-3 in Big Ten play.
Nov 06 5:27p by Ian Casselberry - 0 comments