Illini lose to Ohio State 24-13. Is close good enough?

So at the end of the season, when in all likelihood, the Buckeyes have won the Big Ten and we count the illini wins, we will look at the score of this game and say "wow, the Illini really were lucky to have played OSU so close." We will probably not remember that the Illini were in a position to win the game in the fourth quarter, and had every opportunity to take the lead throughout the second half.

I am actually very pleased with a great deal of what I saw from the Illini on Saturday, with the exception of two huge gains on the ground by Terrelle Pryor, the defense kept the likely Heisman candidate pretty well in check. Likewise, though there were far too many dropped balls and a pretty limited run game, considering the Illini faced one of the top defenses in the league they played at fairly well.

What concerns me though, is that with 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and down a touchdown, we didn't try and win the game. You don't get opportunities like this every week. We know this team needs to get as many wins as possible, and it needs to make a bowl to gain any semblance of credibility with recruits. Down by one score against the number two team in the country, you have attempt to tie, not kick a field goal. We cannot be happy with simply keeping the game close with a good team when we have an opportunity to win.

The second half of this game was a bit too similar to the Missouri game: the opposing defense started to blitz and challenge the line and  Nathan Scheelhaase was forced to run around for his life. Mikel LeShoure was gobbled up at the line and with maybe one exception never allowed to break open and demonstrate his speed.

We know what went wrong, but at least there are some good things we can hang our hat on.

• Trulon Henry grabbed two interceptions for the Illini defense, the first two of the year, leading me to believe that while the defensive backfield is injured and playing outside their natural positions, there is some hope that they are improving and maybe even capable of some big plays here and there. Interceptions can make up for getting caught out of position from time to time.
• Nathan Scheelhaase showed that he isn't completely without an arm, going 12-22 for 109 yards (that's more yards than Pryor) and has mercifully decided to keep his feet firmly on the ground. He did throw an INT, but he seems to be making good decisions overall.
• Anthony Santella is a punting BAMF. Santella's kicking was spectacular given the conditions, and kept the Buckeyes deep enough in their own territory to keep the score very close the entire game. This will win us a game this year, I guarantee it.
• Though I mentioned before that we cannot be satisfied by simply doing well against a good team, the performance in this game does suggest that we will stand a pretty good chance against the rest of the Big Ten, and Penn State is actually looking pretty darn beatable right now I think.