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ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) -- Rocky Harvey had two touchdowns in the final three minutes as Illinois overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to stun ninth-ranked Michigan, 35-29, for its first Big Ten Conference win of the season. Kurt Kittner tied a career high with four touchdown passes, the last of which went 59 yards to Harvey with 2:42 to play and gave the Fighting Illini (3-3, 1-3 Big Ten) a 28-27 lead. "The play was designed to go to (wide receiver) Mike Dean, but he slipped," Harvey said. "Kurt looked around, saw me open in the middle and threw me the ball. I thought I was going to get hit, so I ran." Harvey, seemingly just trying to run out the clock, raced to the end zone for a 54-yard score with 59 seconds left. He rushed for 106 yards on 17 carries. "I told him at halftime, 'Rocky, get ready,'" Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "With a team like Michigan, if there's some holes, they won't be open too long. I knew we needed some speed out there. I told him not to get frustrated, just keep plugging." Ironically, that touchdown gave Michigan (5-2, 2-2) new life. The Wolverines, needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie, drove past midfield in just 15 seconds. With the ball at the 16, Tom Brady fired a pass into the end zone that fell through the hands of a diving David Terrell. Two plays later, Brady fired for the right sideline but was picked off by Tony Francis. Francis fumbled into the end zone but fellow cornerback Muhammad Abdullah recovered, giving the Wolverines a safety with nine seconds left. After the ensuing free kick, Brady had one last chance from midfield but his bomb down the left sideline was intercepted by cornerback Brandon Lloyd as time expired. "Today, we put everything on the line," Harvey added. "It didn't matter if we won or lost. We wanted to show people we could play." Kittner completed 24-of-33 passes for 280 yards as Illinois ended a three-game losing streak and defeated a ranked team for the first time since a 9-7 win over No. 15 Arizona in 1995. The Illini had dropped 16 straight games against ranked opponents. "This is why I came to the Big Ten," Kittner said. "It's the best conference. To play Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State each week, we're trying to get where they are now -- top 10 and consistently in bowls." The Wolverines took control of the contest behind the running of Anthony Thomas, who gained 128 yards on 21 carries. His 25-yard rumble to the end zone with 6:24 left in the second quarter gave Michigan a 20-7 lead. Thomas padded the lead midway through the third quarter with a one-yard touchdown plunge, creating a 27-7 cushion. But he missed the entire fourth quarter after breaking his right index finger, and the Wolverines suffered their second straight loss. "We played as poorly defensively as you could play and it cost us today," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "Our program is built around solid defense and not giving up big plays. I didn't see much of that in the second half. We didn't have people in position, and when we did, they ran through us." Michigan had an extra week off after suffering a 34-31 loss at Michigan State on October 9. The Wolverines had uncharacteristic miscues that proved costly. They had an extra point blocked by defensive end Fred Wakefield following the first TD by Thomas and Wakefield blocked a field goal try in the second quarter. "Those were big points, big opportunities we failed to take advantage of," Carr added. The most devastating mistake came late in the fourth quarter with Michigan trailing, 28-27. Brady drove the Wolverines to the Illini 28, but from the shotgun on 2nd-and-5, the snap from center sailed well over Brady's head. Brady recovered on his own 47, setting up 3rd-and-30. His next pass fell incomplete and his fourth-down throw was intercepted by cornerback Trayvon Waller with just over a minute to go. "If we play our type of football, we don't lose that game," said Brady, who was 23-of-38 for 307 yards. "Championship teams don't lose that kind of game. We felt we were in control." Illinois got on the board six minutes into the game as Kittner connected with Jameel Cook on a six-yard touchdown pass. Michigan answered by scoring the next 27 points. Thomas' 26-yard run led to Brady's six-yard TD pass to Marquise Walker late in the first quarter. It was the first career TD catch for Walker. Marcus Knight was Brady's favorite target, making seven catches for 134 yards. He pulled in a 31-yard scoring strike from Brady with 9:14 left in the second period to make it 14-7. Kittner sparked the comeback late in the third quarter, finding Walter Young open over the middle on 4th-and-3 for a 31-yard touchdown to pull the Illini within 27-14. Kittner used play action to hit tight end Brian Hodges for a three-yard score with 7:25 to go. "I'm proud of our guys to bounce back," Turner added. "No one believed they could, except the players in the locker room. There's a lot of character and leadership on this team. We talked about that all week, that we've got to keep fighting."
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