Seven games into the season, and the defending national champion Michigan football team essentially just had their season ended. The Wolverines now have three losses, and three out of their last five games are against ranked teams. Any hopes of making the College Football Playoff are now dead after Michigan lost against Illinois on the road on Saturday. It was one of the ugliest performances that we have seen from the Wolverines in a very long time.

The Michigan football team scored just seven points in their loss against Illinois on Saturday. The performance from the offense was absolutely disastrous, and the Fighting Illini got the win 21-7. Michigan turned the football over three times, and that once again plagued them. Turnovers have been an issue all year long.

After the loss, Michigan is now 4-3 on the season. They still have games against #2 Oregon, #16 Indiana and #4 Ohio State. After seeing the way this team has looked this season, there's no reason to believe that any of those games will be even somewhat competitive. The Wolverines also have games against Michigan State and Northwestern. Those both look like toss-ups at the moment, and if Michigan loses either of them they likely won't make a bowl game.

Saturday's loss was embarrassing for the Michigan football team. The drop-off that we have seen from this team after winning the national title just a year ago has been a bit shocking. It's hard to know where the Wolverines go from here. Here are three takeaways from the loss.

Michigan somehow got worse after the bye week

Coming into this game, there was actually some optimism surrounding the Michigan football team despite their 4-2 record. The Wolverines switched quarterbacks during the Washington game as they went to Jack Tuttle, and he got his first start today against Illinois. It did not go well. Tuttle finished the game 20/32 for 208 passing yards and one interception, which doesn't look all that bad. However, the pick was incredibly costly as it was inside the Illinois 20 with around eight minutes left and Michigan was down 14. Tuttle also lost a fumble that led to Illinois points. He didn't play well.

The Wolverines had an extra week to prepare for this game, and they somehow came out looking worse than they have all year. Illinois is a solid team, but there is zero reason why Michigan should be losing to a team like that by two touchdowns after what they were the past three years.

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Turnovers are killing this team

If you didn't watch this game, you probably checked the stats and for awhile you were wondering how they lost this game by two touchdowns. Michigan had more first downs, better third down efficiency, better fourth down efficiency, more total yards, more passing yards, better time of possession, their leading rusher had over 30 yards more than Illinois' and their leading receiver had over 50 yards more than Illinois'. Then you hit the turnover column. Michigan: 3 Illinois: 0. That's the difference, and it's absolutely killing this team. Michigan would have had a chance in this once if they didn't turn it over. In fact, they probably would've won.

Some difficult conversations need to be had in the offseason

It's only been seven games, but this Michigan football coaching staff is a huge concern. Yes, this team lost a lot of talent from last year's team, but that happens to teams all the time. The drop-off after winning a national title shouldn't be nearly this bad. Seven games for Sherrone Moore, and Wolverines fans are already calling for his job. Not good. If Michigan loses to rival Michigan State next weekend… let's just say the folks in Ann Arbor won't be happy.

Where does Michigan go from here? That's a good question. This team is officially fighting for a bowl game.