CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It was supposed to be now or never for Michigan football off a bye week.

The defending national champions preached urgency, not panic, in the week leading up to the Big Ten showdown at No. 21 Illinois. Coaches made personnel changes along the offensive line, worked a gameplan around a new starting quarterback, and had some key players return on defense.

Yeah, about that.

Instead of a rejuvenated unit, the No. 22 Wolverines looked awfully similar to the group that saw a 27-game Big Ten winning streak snapped in Seattle two weeks prior. The defense continued to allow big plays and commit penalties. Special teams didn’t flip the field and missed a field goal. The running game wasn’t enough: Kalel Mullings was again great with 19 carries for 87 yards and the lone score, but Donovan Edwards lost a first-half fumble.

The Wolverines lost Saturday for the third time this season 21-7 at No. 21 Illinois at Memorial Stadium. Michigan, in Year 1 under head coach Sherrone Moore, will almost certainly fall out of the college football polls for the first time in 54 weeks, and will miss the College Football Playoff for the first time in four seasons.

"I feel disappointed in myself as a head coach that we didn't come out and execute at a better level," Moore said postgame. "Too many bits and pieces, not enough consistency. So I have to look at myself, too, there's no finger-pointing.

"Reevaluate myself, see what I need to do to be better for them, the players and the coaches as well."

The Wolverines (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) committed three turnovers, two from an erratic Jack Tuttle in his first start at Michigan, and lost All-American cornerback Will Johnson to a foot injury in the first quarter. Tuttle finished 20-for-32 for 208 yards — boosted by some garbage time completions — and a fourth-quarter interception.

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Moore said the quarterback competition could very well be re-opened this week.

"I mean, you can't turn the ball over," he said in an exasperated voice. "You don't want to go to four quarterbacks, don't want to have to go through this process. But got to take care of the football, that's what we've got to do, so we will have that conversation as we go."

The passing game once again couldn’t generate anything, and allowed five sacks — the most Michigan has allowed in the past six years — and the pass defense couldn’t come up with timely stops.

Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer was just 9-for-18 for 80 yards and a touchdown, but the Illini (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) rushed for 187 yards, then rushed the field in their first home ranked win since Oct. 12, 1991 (10-7 over Ohio State) in front of a sellout crowd of 60,670 — the 77th sellout in Memorial Stadium — on its 100-year rededication.

The Wolverines have now lost as many times in the past 42 days as they had in the previous 1,042 days, and now have a rivalry game Saturday when hosting Michigan State at Michigan Stadium (7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) in Ann Arbor.

"Gotta go win next week, should be motivated enough," Moore said. "Michigan State on deck, but we've got to get better ourselves. Got to do everything we can from when we get on the plane to when we land to get better.

"Again, not finger pointing, but we've got to keep each other accountable and we will."

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Illinois special teams trickery flips Michigan

Michigan had momentum when the second half started. The Wolverines had taken their final drive of the first half 72 yards on 12 plays, and Mullings hammered in a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down to cut the deficit to 13-7 at halftime.

Right when it looked like Illinois would make it a nine-point game going into the half, Makari Paige blocked a field goal. The Wolverines got the ball to begin the second half, but after two short Mullings rushes, TeRah Edwards bulldozed center Greg Crippen on third down and sacked Tuttle.

Michigan’s defense appeared to come up with a timely stop on the ensuing Illinois possession, only for the Illini under head coach Bret Bielema to call the perfectly-timed fake to Tanner Arkin, who kept the ball 37 yards up the middle. Five plays later, Altmyer dove in to go up 21-7.

"It was a three-and-out to start that," Moore said. "That happened, a huge momentum shift ... that was a good call by them, I've got to do a better job there of knowing the situation."

Michigan put together its second solid drive in three possessions, but on third-and goal from the 6, Tuttle was sacked which brought on what felt like an automatic Dominic Zvada field goal. Wrong. It was blocked by Ezekiel Holmes.

The defense came up with a stop and the offense got the ball on its own 16 with 13:22 left. Facing fourth-and-18 from the Illinois 44, Tuttle found Colston Loveland on a 29-yard strike to keep the drive alive, but he was easily intercepted by Matt Bailey at the goal line on the next pass attempt.

Sloppy start dooms Michigan vs. Illinois

It didn’t help that the Wolverines began about as poorly as possible on offense. After the Illini drove the field on their opening possession and came away with a field goal, coordinator Kirk Campbell’s unit went three-and-out on its opening possession, which featured two incompletions and gained just 2 yards.

After the two sides exchanged punts, Michigan’s defense made a key play on the next Illinois possession, when Josiah Stewart and Jaishawn Barham combined for a tackle for loss on fourth-and-1 to turn the Illini away at the U-M 21.

But again, the offense sputtered. On third-and-7 in U-M territory, Tuttle avoided the rush, tucked the ball and ran, only to get stripped by Gabe Jacas and lose a fumble for the second time in as many games. Illinois got down to the Michigan 8 yard line, but Derrick Moore came away with a sack on third down to force another field goal to make it 6-0 late in the first quarter.

"If you look at the stats, the yards were the same, everything the same, felt like we were in the game, but three turnovers," Loveland said. "Normally when you lose the turnover battle, you lose the game."

Tuttle appeared to throw a dreadful interception on the first play of the next drive which was returned inside the 5-yard line, but U-M was temporarily saved when an Illini defender was flagged for holding away from the play.

U-M had new life, only for Edwards to fumble two plays later. Illinois put together a seven-play, 51-yard drive and finished it when Altmyer found Arkin on a 2-yard touchdown pass to go up 13-0.

That’s when Michigan, finally, did something on offense. The Wolverines opted to ride Mullings on four consecutive carries, picking up 24 total yards and opening up the pass game. Tuttle found Loveland on consecutive passes to pick up 26 yards, and then a screen to Semaj Morgan gained 8 yards.

Mullings ran on four of the next five plays and scored. But the offense never scored again, the defense could not come up with a takeaway and special teams did not contribute.

"I think you can always get him some more touches," Moore said of the early offensive balance. "Could've been a little bit earlier, but wanted to take some shots early. And you've got to connect on those."

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Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X @RealTonyGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football completely broken in 21-7 spanking by Illinois