ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) -- Chris Perry made sure No. 17 Michigan would not need to rally against Big Ten Conference rival Illinois.
Perry rushed for three touchdowns - all in the first half - and 140 yards as the Wolverines manhandled the struggling Fighting Illini, 56-14.
Last week, Michigan trailed by 21 points in the fourth quarter before rallying behind quarterback John Navarre for a 38-35 victory at Minnesota, which was undefeated at the time. It was the biggest comeback in school history.
This time, Perry and the offensive line, who were hoping to re-establish a dominant running game that had disappeared the last four games, took the drama out of the contest early. Perry capped a run-dominated opening drive with a 25-yard burst to give the Wolverines the lead for good 2:32 into the contest, then made it 14-0 with a two-yard plunge seven minutes later.
"It feels good to get over 100 yards again," said Perry, who had not done so since September 27 vs. Indiana. "The line did a good job blocking and the receivers made some blocks downfield for me."
Michigan (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) broke open the game in the second quarter, taking a 35-0 lead into the break on a 74-yard punt return by Steve Breaston, a nine-yard pass from Navarre to tight end Andy Mignery and a one-yard dive by Perry.
The Wolverines, who surrendered a school-record 424 rushing yards to the Golden Gophers, outgained the Illini on the ground, 275-89, and 512-242 overall.
"I felt that more than anything we had to play better as a team," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "The defense can do it by being aligned properly. You have to attack the line, get off the blocks and get to the football. It's not that difficult if you're aligned properly. Every team will give you new things to deal with, but you have to make those adjustments." "We lost the game up front," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "Michigan is a very good, very physical team. They started right off the bat and moved the ball from the very first drive."
Navarre completed 18-of-27 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown and backup Matt Gutierrez went 4-of-7 for 47 yards and a score.
"We've been talking about having the game slow down," Navarre said. "I understand the offense and have a better feel for the defensive coverages and schemes. When you do that, it does slow things down. I still have to keep getting better and better and that's done during the week, not just playing games."
Making his first start in place of injured starter Jon Beutjer, Illinois' Chris Pazan went 11-of-23 for 100 yards and an interception. Pierre Thomas had just 26 rushing yards but scored twice for the Illini (1-7, 0-4), who dropped their sixth straight game.
"This game gave me a boost of confidence, but it isn't fun when you lose," Pazan said. "We'll take this as a learning experience. We're just going to keep working hard to improve."
"Poise-wise, he handled himself well," Turner said of Pazan. "He made some good reads and at other times played like it was his first game."
Michigan hosts No. 15 Purdue next week. The Boilermakers are 3-0 in conference play.
"This week doesn't mean anything for next week," Perry said. "No disrespect to Illinois, but Purdue is a much better team. We made too many mistakes today to beat Purdue."
