How bad was the Illinois defense in the first quarter against Michigan on Saturday?

The Illini surrendered 146 yards to a team that entered the game ranked last in the Big Ten, averaging only 285 per game. The Wolverines had the audacity to throw in the direction of cornerback Vontae Davis, and he surrendered a rare touchdown. Ten of the team’s 18 tackles were credited to defensive backs.

Suddenly, it stopped. And Brit Miller was the biggest reason.

“We didn’t do our jobs. We didn’t do it correctly,” Miller said of the first quarter. “Our Achilles heel as a defense is we have a little bit of inexperience and where we do have inexperience some of the older guys try to make up for it and don’t do their jobs exactly the way they’re supposed to. But we settled in and had fun. That’s the first time I felt everyone had a lot of fun out there.”

Miller finished with nine tackles, four for loss, and two sacks. He also had two pass breakups. His best moments came on consecutive plays in the third quarter when he got to Michigan quarterback Steven Threet.

On the first play, Miller looked as if he would leave his feet to swat a possible pass, but he maintained balance and swooped in low to snag Threet by the ankle and pulled him to the ground. Moments later, another sack. Just like that, Michigan had negative 24 yards for its first six plays of the second half.

The Wolverines eventually made some plays and finished with 319 yards, but the Illinois defense had made progress over the first four weeks, a period during which they were last in the conference in points allowed.

“I was telling them they’re a good defense and they have to go play like it, and they started to make some things happen,” coach Ron Zook said. “The first thing I heard out of Brit’s mouth (after the game) was, ‘This is just the beginning.’ ”