ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Wilton Speight faked a handoff and delivered a strike to Tyrone Wheatley Jr. for a 21-yard touchdown as the tight end when from right to left. Later, he drilled the ball to Amara Darboh, putting it where only the receiver could catch it between a couple defenders as he zipped from left to right.

He was so sharp and his team was up by so much that he didn’t even have to play the whole game.

Speight threw for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns in three quarters before watching No. 3 Michigan finish off Illinois 41-8 Saturday.

Taking advantage of last week’s bye, Speight spent a lot of time studying himself.

“I watched all the six games, every snap, and took a lot of notes,” he said.

The Wolverines (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were leading 34-0 in the fourth quarter when Jim Harbaugh put backup quarterback John O’Korn in the game and rested Speight.

Speight, who completed 16 of 23 passes, threw a 3-yard pass to Jake Butt to score the first of 4 straight TDs to open the game.

“May have had one of his best games,” Harbaugh said. “It was windy out there. It was tough to throw.”

The Fighting Illini (2-5, 1-3) found that out as they were relegated to starting their third-string quarterback with a familiar name.

Jeff George Jr., son of the former Illinois and NFL quarterback, was 4 of 15 for 95 yards with a TD, an interception and a fumble in his first start. He played because Wes Lunt and Chayce Crouch are injured.

“It’s tough, but everybody has to have a start,” Illinois coach Lovie Smith said. “The running game could have helped him and other people had to play better.”

Illinois ran for 77 yards as a team — 113 below their previous average — and gained just 3.3 yards per carry.