ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Playing from behind, short-handed with key players on the sideline, Michigan relied on kicker Jake Moody to maintain the Wolverines' perfect season with all their goals still in place.
Moody made four field goals, including a game-winning 35-yard field goal with nine seconds left to lift Michigan, 19-17, over Illinois in the final game of the season at Michigan Stadium.
"Moody is money. Whenever Moody goes out on the field, all the nerves calm down," nose tackle Mazi Smith said on UM radio after the game.
Last season, Moody told reporters when he can't fall asleep, he thinks about all the different game-winning scenarios.
"Going into every game, I like to think of different kicks," Moody said last fall. "Could be a game-winner, could be an extra point."
Because of Moody, the reigning Lou Groza Award winner, Michigan, the No. 3 team in the College Football Playoff, remains unbeaten at 11-0, 8-0 Big Ten and will will play at Ohio State, the No. 2-ranked team Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
The Wolverines limped into this game with running back Donovan Edwards out as well as left guard Trevor Keegan, tight end Luke Schoonmaker and edge rusher Mike Morris. Schoonmaker and Morris were in uniform but did not play.
But things worsened for the Wolverines when leading rusher Blake Corum, who has carried the offense all season, suffered what appeared to be an injury to his left knee just before halftime. He ran onto the field after halftime and got in for a play but was held out for the rest of the game.
Without its confident run game, Michigan's oft-criticized pass game, struggled. Sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the receivers struggled to find any consistency. McCarthy was 18-of-34 for 208 yards.
Michigan's defense came through late in the game forcing Illinois, holding its 17-16 lead, to punt on fourth-and-13. The Wolverines got the ball at their 48-yard line on the punt. They converted on fourth down — they were 3 of 4 in the game — and a pass interference on a pass to Ronnie Bell put Michigan at Illinois 22-yard line.
Michigan built a 10-3 lead in the second half on a 46-yard field goal by Moody, but Illinois, which had threatened late in the first half, found a groove and took advantage of a Michigan defense missing edge rusher Mike Morris. Morris left last week's game with about six minutes left with an undisclosed injury and was in uniform against Illinois but did not play.
The Illini, who got stopped on a fourth-and-one twice, the second time because of a false start, in the first half, drove 67 yards on nine plays and tied the game, 10-10, on an eight-yard touchdown run by Chase Brown.
On Michigan's next drive, the Wolverines went for it on fourth-and-6 at the Illinois 37-yard line and McCarthy clearly thought the Illini were offsides and had a free play and threw deep to Andrel Anthony in the end zone. Anthony dropped the pass. Illinois did not get called for a penalty, although the Wolverines were motioning for it.
Brown, whose status was unclear heading into this game after suffering an injury last week, gave the Illini the lead, 17-10, the next drive with a 37-touchdown run. Michigan entered the game with the nation's No. 1-ranked rush defense, yielding an average 72.7 yards a game, gave up more rushing yards than it had all season. Brown finished with 29 carries for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The Wolverines had a scare late in the first half when Corum, who has led this team all season and been in Heisman Trophy conversation, suffered what appeared to be an injury to his left knee with 1:36 remaining in the first half
Corum fumbled on the play and was able to walk off the field and head straight to the locker room. The junior, who scored on a two-yard run in the first quarter, ran onto the field coming out of halftime. He came into the game for a play but was sidelined the rest of the half. He finished with 18 carries for 108 yards and also had two catches for 39 yards. Sophomore running back Donovan Edwards was not in uniform after suffering an undisclosed injury, so Michigan went with backups C.J. Stokes and Isaiah Gash.
Without Corum, the Michigan offense, which looked sloppy in the first half, struggled.
Trailing 17-10, the defense got off the field after Illinois quarterback Tommy DeVito fumbled a snap to force a fourth-and-19 situation and on the next play, Michigan receiver Ronnie Bell, filling in on returns with A.J. Henning out, took the punt 40 yards on the return to the Illinois 38. But Michigan couldn't get much going and settled on Jake Moody's second field goal, this time from 41 yards to pull within 17-13.
The Wolverines' defense came up with another big play, stopping the Illini on fourth down with a stop by R.J. Moten. The Illini were 0 for 2 on fourth down, a third opportunity was negated by an Illinois penalty. Teams are 8 for 26 on fourth down against Michigan.
Michigan went on a 12-play drive that included a key fourth-down conversion on a nine-yard pass to Roman Wilson, but the Wolverines came away with another Moody field goal, this time from 33 yards.
