Michigan 67, Illinois 65
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 6, 2010
Where: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Temperature:
45°
Head Official:
Dave Witvoet
Attendance:
111441
By SportsDirect Inc.
In one of the wildest games in the storied history of the Big Ten Conference, Michigan rallied behind backup quarterback Tate Forcier for an improbable 67-65 triple-overtime victory over Illinois on Saturday in Ann Arbor.
With the win in the highest-scoring game of the collegiate season, Michigan (6-3, 2-3 Big Ten) is bowl eligible for the first time since 2007. It also snapped a three-game losing streak for the Wolverines.
Forcier, who was the starting quarterback last year, relieved sophomore sensation Denard Robinson to start the fourth quarter and rallied the Wolverines, who trailed 45-38 late in the game.
Forcier tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Stonum with 1:40 remaining in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Forcier completed 12-of-19 passing for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Michigan played the fourth quarter and overtime periods without Robinson, who did not return at the end of the third quarter with an undisclosed injury. Robinson passed for a career-high 305 yards and three touchdowns while he was in the game.
The Fighting Illini (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) got three overtime scores from running back Mikel Leshoure, who finished with five touchdowns. However, Illinois failed on a two-point conversion attempt in the third overtime as quarterback Nate Scheelhaase was sacked. Scheelhaase threw for three touchdowns and ran for another for the Illini, who compiled 561 yards of offense.
Michigan amassed 676 yards of offense against an Illinois defense which came into the game ranked 15th in total defense allowing 301 yards per game.
Michigan wide receiver Roy Roundtree set a school record with 246 receiving yards, while hauling in a couple of scoring passes from Robinson in the first half, which ended in a 31-31 tie.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sacks |
FF |
| Illinois
|
561 |
315 |
246 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
1.0 |
2 |
| Michigan
|
676 |
257 |
419 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0.0 |
1 |