I was at the Michigan-Illinois game this past Saturday. After seeing them live, here are my observations:

1. Blake Corum is REALLY good. Definitely a cut above any running back on Ohio State’s roster. Tremendous vision, agility, able to make something out of nothing, good power, home run speed… he is absolutely a Heisman level running back. If he’s healthy for the game, he is going to give Ohio State fits. However, there’s a huge drop off between him and Michigan’s third and fourth string running backs.

2. Michigan’s passing game is a mess. JJ McCarthy has a strong arm but absolutely no touch on passes downfield, and missed multiple wide open receivers; if it’s a tight window pass beyond 10 yards, forget it. And Michigan’s receivers are mediocre at best — can’t get open consistently, drop catchable passes, etc. on those rare occasions that McCarthy did put the ball on target, they were either covered up or failed to make the catch. For large portions of the game, Michigan forced the run against a stacked box even after Corum went out because the passing game simply wasn’t working.

3. Michigan’s passing defense is pretty bad too. Illinois receivers had at least 3-4 unforced drops on extremely catchable balls, which would have drastically changed the complexion of the game if even half of them had been caught. Their vaunted run defense was nothing special either — Chase Brown was able to consistently pick up yards even when everyone in the stadium knew they were running. They didn’t get much pressure or penetration, and most of the splash plays on defense came from fumbled snaps and other unforced errors by Illinois.

4. Michigan is battle tested and tough. They actually looked very similar to how Ohio State has looked at the past couple weeks — they got outplayed for long stretches of the game, dealt with injuries and lack of offensive rhythm, but hung in there and found a way to win. Harbaugh definitely trusts his defense. It will be a four quarter game next week.

5. I found it funny how, talking to people at the game, some of their star players that have a great national reputation, like DJ Turner and Mazi Smith, are not as highly regarded among Michigan fans. DJ Turner is basically Michigan’s version of Eli Apple — an athletic freak who just isn’t that good at football. Mazi Smith is a freak of nature too, but apparently he’s very inconsistent.

Long story short, I really like our chances on Saturday even if we aren’t healthy. If Corum and/or Edwards are healthy, it’ll be a tough game, but Ohio State is the better team. Without Corum/Edwards, Michigan is not going be able to score. If Ohio State is able to muster any semblance of a running game, they will win by two touchdowns.