Ann Arbor, Mich. - Illinois ran into a tough team in a 41-8 loss at No. 3 Michigan on Saturday.
With Wes Lunt and Chayce Crouch unavailable, Jeff George Jr. made his first career start at quarterback for Illinois. His father - Jeff George - played quarterback for the Illini from 1988 to 1989. Its the first father/son starting quarterback combo in school history.
George's first career touchdown pass came in the fourth quarter with a big assist from Malik Turner on a spectacular catch. The Illini then converted a two-point conversion to score their lone points of the game. Turner finished with 86 yards receiving.
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Hardy Nickerson led Illinois with 14 tackles - six of them solo - including a sack.
Freshman Stanley Green turned in a career day with 11 tackles and forced a fumble in the third quarter to stop a Michigan drive. His seven solo tackles tied for the most in the game with Jaylen Dunlap.
Illinois held Michigan's Jabrill Peppers to 72 all-purpose yards, under his season average of 73.7. He came into the game with five carries for 98 yards (19.6 yards per carry) and two touchdowns and was held to nine yards on five carries (1.8 yard per carry) today.
Illinois hosts Minnesota October 29 at 11 am for Homecoming.
TEAM NOTES
- Illinois and Michigan met for the first time in four years, the longest hiatus in the series since 1919.
- For the first time ever, two former Super Bowl head coaches faced off as college football head coaches. Lovie Smith guided the Chicago Bears to Super Bowl XLI and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh coached the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
- Illinois faced its second AP Top 25-ranked opponent this season. Michigan is No. 3 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Illini fell to No. 15 Nebraska, 31-16, back on Oct. 1.
- The attendance of 111,103 was the second second-largest the Illini have played in front of. The 2010 game at Michigan drew 111,441 fans (L, 67-65 3OT).
- Illinois ran for 77 yards, the second most against Michigan this season.
- Michigan leads the all-time series 70-23-2 overall and holds a 34-11-1 lead in games played in Ann Arbor.
- Illinois is 3-31-2 against Michigan when the Wolverines are ranked in the AP poll.
- Illinois held Michigan's Jabrill Peppers to nine yards on five carries (1.8 yards per carry) after he averaged 19.6 yards per carry (5 for 98) with two touchdowns in the first six games. Defensively, Peppers had two tackles without a TFL. He came into the game as Michigan's second-leading tackler and has 10.0 TFLs.Â
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Redshirt-freshman QB Jeff George Jr. made his first career start. George and his father, former Illinois QB Jeff George became the first father/son duo to start at quarterback for the Fighting Illini.
- Junior WR Malik Turner caught a 43-yard pass in the third quarter and a 43-yard TD in the fourth quarter, the first completion of Jeff George Jr.'s career. Turner entered the game with 39.2-percent of Illinois' receiving yards, the second highest percentage among Power 5 players, and had 90.5-percent vs. Michigan.
- Sophomore QB Chayce Crouch and senior QB Wes Lunt missed the game with injuries.
- Senior P Ryan Frain had six punts with an average of 46.3 yards per punt. Michigan did not return a punt.
- Junior CB Jaylen Dunlap had a career-high 2.5 TFLs.
- Sophomore LB Julian Jones made his second career start and had a career-high 11 tackles.
- Freshman FS Stanley Green had a career-high 11 tackles. Green's seven solo tackles tied for the most in the game with Jaylen Dunlap.
- Senior LB Hardy Nickerson had a season-high 14 tackles. His career high is 16 against Arizona State in 2015 when he played at Cal.
- Senior G Connor Brennan made his first career start.
- Sophomore DT Tito Odenigbo made his first career start.
- Consecutive starts extended dating back to 2015: Christian DiLauro 26, Dawuane Smoot 19, Malik Turner 8
