Joey Elliot was able to do what no other Purdue quarterback had been able to so since Bob Griese in Michigan Stadium.

Elliot won.

Elliot threw for 367 yards, his career high. He ran for one touchdown and threw for two others and led Purdue to their 38-36 comeback victory over Michigan for Purdue’s first Big House win since 1966 when Griese did it.

A grinning Elliot said, he is a native of Evansville, Indiana just like me.

The Boilermakers were all smiles, but the Wolverines were left crying. Their impressive 4-0 record to start the season might very well turn out to be a 5-7 flop.

Zoltan Mesko, punter for Michigan, said anytime you invest a lot of effort and time into something, you are bound to cry.

Rich Rodriguez, head coach for Michigan, was very emotional during the news conference when Bill Martin, retiring athletic director, tried sharing encouraging words.

Purdue (4-6, 3-3) trailed at halftime 24-10. During the third quarter, Michigan collapsed once again. It was the second time in two weeks they allowed 21 points.

With 5:04 minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Boilermakers grabbed the lead and held on for good on a 54 yard pass from Elliot to Cortez Smith, who was wide open. On the play before they had surprised Michigan with their onside kick.

Danny Hope, head coach for Purdue, said all season we had had that play ready but hadn’t used it. You need to wait for just the right moment.

The Michigan Wolverines (5-5, 1-5), with 2:10 minutes to go in the game pulled to within two points on the third touchdown for Brandon Minor. However on a 2 point conversion attempt, Tate Forcier got sacked. They had been forced to go for the conversion due to an earlier missed extra point.

A Michigan onside kick was recovered by Purdue. They punted and then held on to end their 11 game losing streak on the road. Their skid had placed them in a tie with Utah State as the longest active road losing streak. With their victories over both Ohio State and Michigan for the first time since 2000, Purdue has the chance to rally from a 1-5 start to a bowl bid if they are able to finish the season with victories over Michigan State and in Indiana.

Hope said, this is a huge win for our team.

Michigan’s loss could be devastating. There is the possibility of the Wolverines going without a bowl game for two seasons in a row. It would be the first time that had happened since 1973-74.

Rodriguez said, the season’s not over.

If Michigan doesn’t get a win in Wisconsin or at home against Ohio State it will be over.

Minor insisted that mentally we can handle this. None of us are in need of seeing Oprah or Dr. Phil.

Rodriguez, however, probably is in need of having someone to talk to regarding his frustrations.

In his first season with the winningest program in college football, Rodriguez endured nine losses last season, which was a school record.

This season the Wolverines started out strong, but could end very poorly. Their finish could also become compounded with more problems. There is an NCAA investigation underway to determine whether or not Michigan violated NCAA rules regarding offseason workouts and practice hours.

However, Rodriguez is focusing on the on-field challenges that Michigan faces. He say that none of these can be fixed overnight.

Rodriguez said, I don’t have any magic wands.

To fix Michigan’s defense he would need one.

During the second half of their last three games, the Michigan team has been outscored 75-12 by Penn State, Illinois and Purdue.

Brandon Graham, defensive end for Michigan, said it’s embarrassing. We know that we are better than this. We are trying to prove this.

In September, Tate Forcier was able to show he could win while a freshman. However, the Wolverines and Forcier have gone 1-5 since their undefeated first month.

Forcier threw a touchdown pass and also had a running touchdown. However early second half he also fumbled while attempting an option pitch. Purdue recovered the ball which sparked their comeback.

Forcier said, it hurts. I have never lost so many games in all my life. It is my job getting the team back to playing like we did before.

Roy Roundtree, receiver for Michigan, cradled the football as he sprinted towards the end zone.

Seventy six yards down field Terry Hawthorne caught up with him finally right at the goal line. On the scoreboard points went up. It looked like it was going to be another long day for the Illini.

Then a video review of the play ruled that Roundtree had been down on the one yard line. On four runs in a row, Illini stopped Michigan. Then Juice Williams responded with a drive of 99 yards for a touchdown to give Illinois the lead and ultimately a 38-13 victory over Michigan.

Ron Zook, Illinois coach, said a lot of guys on a play like that would have quit, but Terry didn’t. He just kept going and made the biggest play in the game, maybe the play of our entire year.

Before the turnaround at the goal line, Michigan had only give up 94 total offensive yards. They appeared to take a lead of 20-7 twice on what they had hoped to be their first win on the road this season.

Instead Illinois (2-6, 1-5), had 500 total offensive yards, and Michigan appeared to be nearly as lost as they were during last year’s 3-9 disaster of a season.

Rodriguez said, it changes the momentum, especially on the road. It’s tough when you get a chance of seizing the momentum and it reverses while on the road.

Over half of the second half surge from Illinois came during three drives for touchdowns surrounded by a couple three and out ugly possessions that were led by Tate Forcier, freshman quarterback.

A majority of the drive of 99 yards came on the 70 yard run up the middle by Mikel LeShoure. However Williams, who had three drives in the first half end with sacks coming on third down, was able to lead Illinois on two additional drives, putting the game away for Illinois.

A 79 yard drive was capped by a Williams two yard touchdown pass to London Davis. On their next possession Michigan went backward and the Illini scored another touchdown on a 45 yard drive. Williams scored on a third yard run to give Illinois a lead of 28-13.

Michigan (5-4, 1-4) had three turnovers. Two were second half turnovers from Forcier.

One year after Michigan’s streak of appearing in bowls for three decades came to an end and finishing 3-9 in Rich Rodriguez’s first year as coach, the Wolverines are still one win away from being eligible for a bowl. However they have lost four Big Ten games in a row and won a game versus Delaware State during their last five games.

Rodriguez said, we really have not given ourselves too much of an opportunity due to our own mistakes. You need to give them some credit as well. They made some plays. However we need to play more efficient in order to have a chance.

Illinois had not defeated any Bowl Subdivision opponents this year. However, Michigan had three turnovers and appeared to give life to a team that had barely seemed competitive while losing five games in a row to begin their Big Ten season.

Williams said, lots of teams in that situation would usually quit, just give up, after Illinois snapped their losing streak of five games. Among ourselves we made the pact that we wouldn’t stop until the season was over.

Last season Williams went crazy against Michigan with his 431 total offensive yards, went 8 for 11 for 123 passing yards and ran for 97 yards in 21 carries and had two touchdowns.

Michigan started their season out with a 4-0 record and defeated Notre Dame. Next Saturday they will host Purdue then travel to Wisconsin and wrap up the season at home playing Ohio State.

Troy Woolfolk, safety, said we are not winning games we should. Now we playing for our pride. We know we can’t win the Big Ten. There is still a chance we can get into a bowl.

Finally during the next drive Forcier was able to get the Wolverines moving. Things appeared to be promising until he got sacked and then fumbled the ball at Illinois’ 16 yard line.

Forcier went 13 for 23 for a total of 257 yards. Carlos Brown rushed for 110 yards in 25 carries and scored a touchdown.

Roundtree caught four passes for a total of 92 yards, which included the 76 yard play where he was stopped.

Illinois got a field goal to add to their total as well as another stop. With just 3:49 left to play in the game, Michigan blocked an Illinois punt. At that point they were in the hole by three scores and only had a very faint hope left.

Those hopes were ended when Forcier fumbled the ball again on Illinois’ 15 yard line. Jason Ford, six plays later, scored on a 79 yard play.

Before the turnaround play on the goal line, Michigan had shut Williams down for the most part. Last season in the 45-20 Illinois rout, Williams had over 400 yards in offense.

It’s still possible for Illinois to get six wins. However, it isn’t going to be easy. They will travel to Minnesota and then host Northwestern. Then they travel to face No. 5 ranked Cincinnati and then host Fresno State.

Zook said, this game does not mean that everything is ok. We still have four more games.