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CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Last season, Illinois handed Michigan a painful defeat. Tonight, the Illini were responsible for much of their own misery. Anthony Thomas ran for a career-high 228 and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 2:30 left, and 10th-ranked Michigan capitalized on a pair of fourth-quarter fumbles to end a seven-game winning streak for the 17th-ranked Illini, 35-31. The fumbles wasted a brilliant effort by Kurt Kittner, who sprained his ankle last week but recovered to complete 27-of-38 passes for a career-high 352 yards and two scores. Greg Lewis caught four passes for 107 yards. Illinois was clinging to a 31-28 lead with four minutes left when Rocky Harvey was spun head-over-heels on a tackle by linebacker Victor Hobson, forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Wolverines at the Illinois 26-yard line. Thomas burst inside the Illinois 10, and appeared to fumble, but the ball was ruled dead, and Thomas ran in from three yards out for a 35-31 lead with 2:30 left. Illinois' ensuing drive ended quickly when fullback Jameel Cook caught a pass from Kittner and fumbled near midfield with linebacker Larry Foote making the recovery. Michigan won the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams and made amends for a 35-29 loss in 1999 in which Illinois allowed four touchdowns over the final 18 minutes. "In the back of our minds, we were thinking about Illinois because of what happened last year," Thomas said. "They played us tough, but we played tough, too." The Wolverines (3-1, 1-0), who also bounced back from last week's loss at UCLA, returned the favor by rallying from a 21-7 deficit in the third quarter behind Drew Henson. Henson, sidelined for the first three games of the season with a broken foot, completed 8-of-17 passes for 141 yards and one touchdown in his first appearance of the season. "The foot felt fine. I practiced all week, so I knew I was up to playing," Henson said. "Whether I could have played the entire game, I honestly don't know." Freshman John Navarre started for Michigan, completing 4-of-11 passes for 31 yards. Thomas had the first 200-yard rushing effort for Michigan since Tim Biakabutuka had 313 against Ohio State in 1995. Illinois (3-1, 0-1) fell to 2-11 in ranked games under coach Ron Turner and missed a chance at its first 4-0 start since 1951. A 41-yard run by Walter Cross on a fake punt set up Micchigan's first score, a two-yard run by Thomas. A pair of big plays set up second-quarter touchdowns for Illinois. Punter Hayden Epstein failed to handle a snap in the end zone, was chased by several defenders and got off a short kick that went out of bounds at the 3. Antoineo Harris, who had 17 carries for 56 yards, ran into the end zone on the next play. Kittner threw a 58-yard bomb to Aaron Moorehead to the Michigan 6, setting up a six-yard TD run by Harvey that made it 14-7 at halftime. The Illini increased their lead to 21-7 on a 15-yard TD pass from Kittner to Josh Whitman, and Michigan answered on an eight-yard TD run by Henson, capping the drive that was kept alive by a short run by Henson on 4th-and-inches from midfield. "(Henson) showed tonight why he is one of the best quarterbacks in the country," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "He has experience and it showed." With 22 seconds left in the third quarter, Illinois regained a 10-point cushion on a 24-yard field goal by Steve Fitts. The teams continued to trade scores in the fourth quarter. Henson threw a 57-yard TD pass to David Terrell 47 seconds into the final period and Illinois responded with a 17-yard TD pass from Kittner to Eric McGoey with 10:54 left. Terrell had a huge game with six catches for 116 yards. A 15-yard TD run by Chris Perry cut Illinois' lead to 31-28 with 9:29 remaining.
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