Wolverines bend but don’t break

Their championships hopes stay alive with winning kick, and star Corum’s knee survives injury scare as Ohio State showdown looms.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan survived a pair of scares.

Jake Moody made a go-ahead, 35-yard field goal with nine seconds left, lifting the third-ranked Wolverines to a 19-17 win over Illinois on Saturday.

Michigan (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) played much of the second half without star running back Blake Corum, who hurt his left knee after being tackled just before halftime and had only one carry in the second half.

X-rays, though, gave coach Jim Harbaugh and his players a sense of relief.

“Structurally good, which is great news,” Harbaugh said.

The Wolverines will turn their attention to playing rival and second-ranked Ohio State on the road, where they have not won since 2000, with a spot in the Big Ten championship game at stake and College Football Playoff implications.

“We’ve been preparing for this the whole year,” defensive lineman Kris Jenkins said.

The Fighting Illini (7-4, 5-3) took a 17-10 lead late in the third quarter on Chase Brown’s 37-yard touchdown run. But they couldn’t build on it.

With a chance to run out the clock and a one-point lead, they had to punt to Michigan late in the game. The Illini failed to hold on and beat a top-three team for the first time since knocking off top-ranked Ohio State in 2007.

“Very angry. Very upset,” coach Bret Bielema said. “I think our kids did a lot to win the football game and to continually have things just go against us, very frustrating.”