With two losses in the first half of the season, Michigan is heading into its final six regular-season games trying to remain calm and focused, while knowing that any slip-up will undermine the Wolverines’ already-tenuous goal of making the college football playoff.

The 24th-ranked Wolverines (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) will play their first game in two weeks on Saturday at No. 22 Illinois (5-1, 2-1) and are coming off a loss at Washington. The players’ message after the game was to not allow this to spiral.

“You have to find the line between urgency and panic,” fullback/tight end Max Bredeson, a team captain, said this week. “That’s a big thing that we’ve established. You can’t be panicked, but there’s a sense of, gotta roll, gotta get things going. Basically, be urgent, but make sure you don’t cross that line.”

How would that look if the Wolverines crossed that line?

“Panicked and flustered,” Bredeson said. “Luckily, due to the training we’ve had, that’s not how it’s gone.”

Michigan will start its third quarterback of the season when Jack Tuttle, who relieved Alex Orji in the Washington game, leads the offense at Illinois. The Wolverines are looking for a pass game they hope Tuttle can establish, and on the defensive side, they’re looking for ways to cut down the explosive pass plays that have given them fits.

The Wolverines were 15-0 last season and won the national championship. But there have been significant blemishes this season not entirely unexpected because of the departure of so much talent from the 2023 team, not to mention considerable staff changes, including replacing former head coach Jim Harbaugh. Michigan saw the end of its 23-game home winning streak when Texas won, 31-12, at Michigan Stadium, and the 27-game Big Ten winning streak ended with the loss at Washington. There are players on this team who haven’t had to deal with much adversity, and now it’s about the captains and leaders steering this group.

“Right now, it’s just making sure everyone knows how serious it is and how urgent it is,” cornerback Will Johnson said this week after practice. “We got some young guys that haven’t experienced this at all, or experienced losing and things like that. As a whole, we’re just trying to attack every day and be urgent.”

The team’s mantra has been finishing each weekend 1-0. That keeps them focused and not looking ahead. For instance, Michigan plays in-state rival Michigan State next week, always a huge game on the schedule, but they said Illinois has all their attention.

“We know every game from now on is going to be a battle, but you can’t get lost looking too far in the future,” left guard Josh Priebe said. “Really, what everyone’s trying to do is just be the best as possible, remain present and just focus on the opponent we have each week. Because if you don’t do that, then you’re going to get distracted, and that’s when things can certainly spiral a little bit.”

The Illini are completely focused on Michigan. It will be the 100th anniversary of the Memorial Stadium Dedication Game in 1924, when Red Grange accounted for six touchdowns against Michigan. Illinois will wear 1920s-themed uniforms to commemorate the anniversary of that game, with helmets painted to look like leather helmets.

Illinois coach Bret Bielema hasn’t forgotten the last time the Illini met Michigan, in 2022. A field goal by Jake Moody with nine seconds left gave the Wolverines a 19-17 victory heading into their final regular-season game at Ohio State. The official Illinois game notes offered a summary of that last meeting and mentioned the game-winning drive “extended on a fourth-down conversion despite a controversial no-call.” So, yes, there’s plenty of additional motivation for Bielema and the Illini.

“I’m 3-3 against them, and I didn’t like the last one,” Bielema said, referencing his record that includes his time as Wisconsin head coach. “So everybody’s got their history. This game means a lot to me. We will put our best foot forward. Excited about the opportunity.”

He clearly has not let go of the loss in 2022.

“The last one was pretty big,” Bielema told reporters. “The last one was big, I thought we had a good enough football team to go up there and win. Unfortunately, it didn’t (happen). There were a lot of things that went into it, things we could’ve done better. We didn’t get the chance to rematch these guys last year, so we have the chance to rematch them this year.”

Illinois, coming off an overtime win against Purdue, hopes to keep the wins rolling, and the Michigan players are thinking about how a win on Saturday against a ranked opponent would be the positive they need going forward this season.

“You think about that,” Bredeson said. “We always play nameless, faceless opponents. It’s something we live by, but you do take into consideration what that can do, and we’re excited for the opportunity.”