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TheMichiganDaily, www.michigandaily.com
Illinois at
Michigan
Matchup:
Illinois 2-4;
Michigan 6-0
When:
Saturday
3:30 P.M.
Where:
Michigan
Stadium
TV/Radio: BTN
Michigan hosts Illinois in battle
of former Super Bowl coaches
The last time Jim Harbaugh
coached against Lovie Smith, it
was 2012. Harbaugh was in his
second year as
head coach of the
San
Francisco
49ers, and Smith
was in his ninth
with the Chicago
Bears
—
two
years
removed
from
an
NFC
Championship
Game
appearance and
six years after
losing
Super
Bowl XLI.
Led by first-
time
starting
quarterback
Colin
Kaepernick,
Harbaugh’s 49ers rolled the Bears,
32-7, and marched all the way to
that year’s Super Bowl, while Smith
was fired at the end of the season.
Four
years
later,
the
circumstances
have
changed
dramatically for both coaches.
Harbaugh wore out his welcome
in San Francisco despite reaching
three straight NFC Championship
games, and he has moved back to
his alma mater and resurrected
Michigan’s football program. And
Smith, who most recently spent
two years coaching the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers before being abruptly
fired again, has returned to the
state of Illinois in an attempt to
turn around the
struggling Fighting
Illini.
The
two
coaches’
paths
will
cross
again
this Saturday at
Michigan Stadium,
when they become
the
first
former
Super
Bowl
coaches to face off
at the college level.
Though Harbaugh claimed not
to have any memories of coaching
against Smith in the NFL, it’s a
matchup he’s looking forward to.
“Great
coach,”
he
said.
“Outstanding person. Don’t know
him real well, but I know a lot of
people that do, and everybody
speaks very highly of him. Our
interactions have been pleasant,
good. Our task is to prepare to play
their team and it’ll be a challenge
— big-game, championship-type
football game for our team, and it’s
our duty to get prepared for it.”
The Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten,
6-0 overall) have said all season
that they’re treating every game
like a championship game, but
this certainly doesn’t look like
one on paper. Michigan is already
riding a high in just Harbaugh’s
second year, as the Wolverines
boast an undefeated record, the
nation’s best defense and a top-
10 win over Wisconsin at the
season’s halfway point.
The Illini (1-2, 2-4), though,
look like they’re in for a slower
turnaround. They dropped home
games to Purdue and Western
Michigan before finally snapping
their losing skid with a 17-point win
against Rutgers — the same team
Michigan beat 78-0 two weeks ago.
As a result, the Wolverines are
favored by 37 points Saturday — a
line that grew wider and wider as
the week went on.
Still, Illinois presents a few
threats, especially on defense.
The Illini are tied for fifth in the
country with a plus-eight turnover
margin, buoyed by five takeaways
against the Scarlet Knights last
week. Michigan will need to avoid
making big mistakes, but that
hasn’t happened very often so far
this season, as the Wolverines sit at
a plus-six margin
heading
into
Saturday.
“I think it’s a
point of emphasis,”
said
offensive
coordinator
Tim
Drevno.
“The
coaching staff does
a good job — Jedd
(Fisch) and Tyrone
(Wheatley)
and
Jay
(Harbaugh)
and Jim — just making sure you’re
preaching about it, you coach it, and
you show examples of not allowing
that to happen.”
Drevno was on Harbaugh’s
staff in San Francisco in 2012, so
he knows a little about what to
expect from the opposing sideline.
He pointed out that Smith’s teams
always seemed to be in the top
10 in forcing turnovers, and that
they have always had solid, well-
coached defensive fronts with the
ability to take away the run.
Certain teams have been able
to take away parts of Michigan’s
game
—
Central
Florida
neutralized the run by stacking
the
box,
while
Wisconsin’s
talented
secondary
held
off
redshirt sophomore quarterback
Wilton Speight until he finally
came through with a fourth-
quarter touchdown pass. But
no team has figured out how to
completely stop the Wolverines’
offense.
If Illinois wants to defy the odds
and be that team, it will have to
hope that its experienced coaches
have a few tricks up their sleeves.
“Lovie’s an outstanding coach
and
(defensive
coordinator)
Hardy Nickerson’s an outstanding
coach,” Drevno said. “They know
how to stack the box, they know
how to take people out of the box.
They’re experts at what they do.
It’s going to be fun. It’s going to
be a fun game, and we love games
like this.”
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Michigan (top) returns to Michigan Stadium on Saturday, led by coach Jim
Harbaugh (bottom), one of two former NFL head coaches in the matchup.
JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
“Everybody
speaks very
highly of
(Lovie Smith).
GRANT HARDY/Daily