The Michigan football team traveled to Champaign a year ago, one win from bowl eligibility and facing a downtrodden Illinois team.

In a key turn of events in that game, the Wolverines couldn't convert on four downs from the Illinois 1-yard-line and the Illini drove 99 yards down the field for a touchdown and an eventual 38-13 win.

This year, Michigan enters in the same situation, one win from bowl eligibility, but at home and against an improving Illinois team led by freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase.

Breaking down the game from an Illinois vantage point is Shannon Ryan, the Illini football beat writer for The Chicago Tribune.

Q: How does Nathan Scheelhaase compare to Denard Robinson? How surprising is what he has been able to do this season?

Shannon Ryan: "Robinson provides a spark. Scheelhaase provides a steady calm. Both are good, but different, qualities for quarterbacks. Scheelhaase, a redshirt freshman, has become a little more sure of himself game by game and the coaches have fed him just enough of what he can handle.

"He’s also a dual threat quarterback, but hasn’t put up nearly the same yards as Robinson. He’s coming off his best performance -- 195 passing yards, 118 rushing yards and four touchdowns against Purdue."

Q: Last year's game was a big turning point for Michigan. Does Illinois talk about it much?

SR: "Illinois coach Ron Zook has tried to mute any talk of a bowl game or beating Michigan for a third consecutive time. With a victory, Illinois will be bowl eligible for the first time since the 2007 season. The Illini don’t find much joy in remembering any of last year. This season is all about how much they can distance themselves from that dismal 3-9 campaign." Q: Last year, Illinois was one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. What would you say is the biggest difference in the Illini's turnaround? How did they do it?

SR: "The addition of coordinators Paul Petrino on offense and Vic Koenning on defense has revamped the team. Zook takes a “bigger-picture” approach to coaching this season. The difference is remarkable, especially on defense. Despite using a patchwork secondary at the start of the season due to injuries, the defense has not allowed any team to score more than 26 points this season. Illinois went from 96th nationally in scoring defense with 30.2 points allowed per game to 12th with 16.8 points per game. In total defense, the Illini jumped from 91st in total defense with 403.3 yards per game to 15th with 301.4 yards."

Q: What is the biggest strength of the Illinois defense and how improved is Martez Wilson? SR: "The front four has been really impressive. Tackle Corey Liuget is having a standout season with a team-high three sacks and nine quarterback hurries to go with 37 tackles.

"Martez Wilson has returned better than expected from a neck injury that knocked him out of all but the season opener a year ago. His team-high 68 tackles is just one shy of his 2008 total."

Q: What's the best-case/worst-case scenario? In other words, what needs to happen for Illinois to win? For them to get blown out?

SR: "To win, Illinois needs to control the ball. Keeping up with Michigan’s scoring, if the Wolverines perform like they did against Penn State, might be a problem. The Illini might need to get a turnover or two as well, something the defense has been excelling at lately. If it’s a Michigan victory, it means Illinois’ offense struggled to stay on the field and Scheelhaase reverted to some rookie mistakes."

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.