I don't know if anyone has mentioned it but I was listening to the postgame show and someone called in and asked "does anyone realize there was still one second left on the clock after the last pass?" If you go back and watch, we should have had one second left on 4th down since the pass was incomplete.
I don't think anyone's mentioned it. I'll take your word for it and, if true...ugh, makes this hurt more.
Okay, so I live in Japan, so the game started at 0430 Sunday my time. I had to work in the morning, so chose not to wake up and watch it in real time. I watched it in the late afternoon, early evening on Sunday, and then had to take 24 hours to decompress before offering my thoughts. Here they are:
The Good: We lost by six to an opponent that many predicted would beat us by 20+. The special teams were phenomenal, the running game was decent, and I thought the lines played pretty decently. (Some have noted limited pressure, but what they lacked in pressure they made up for with at least 4, maybe as many as 6, deflected passes. Those will add up.) And this was all STILL without the #1 QB (we think) and significant suspended players, who I think we all expect back next week, otherwise there's really no rational explanation for their suspensions.
The Bad: The Illini stayed in this game because of special teams and penalties. Neither the offensive nor defensive units played particularly well. With even an average B1G special teams unit, and without the many and costly penalties committed by USF, the Illini lose this game by at least two scores, maybe three. The offense struggled to string together first downs throughout the game and the defense clearly seemed winded by the 4th quarter. Still, special teams are one of three units, so their prowess shouldn't just be dismissed. And good, well-prepared teams force penalties. So there's some silver lining. But given the choice, I'd rather play a close game because our offense and defense played well, not because our special teams played well and the other team committed too many penalties.
The Ugly: 4th quarter collapse. After seeing improvements in the second half of both previous games, I actually believed the Illini were going to win when we went into halftime. Been a while since I could say that (against a decent opponent...or a bad one, if we're being honest). So that part's good. But then they didn't live up to it! The play calling was too conservative, the players themselves seemed scared to lose the game, and we seemed to be outclassed in the conditioning department (which surprised me). We are not talented enough to crumble in the 4th quarter and win B1G games, even against the weakest opponents. I hope that doesn't happen again.
If we were 3-0, finding three more wins would be pretty easy. At 2-1, finding four more wins is pretty hard in my opinion. Even though the difference came down to one bad pass at the end of the game (and potentially being deprived of the chance at another pass). I don't think we make a bowl this year. But after 24 hours of reflection, I'm still gunning for five wins, as I was at the beginning of the season. It still seems achievable, and would still represent a significant step forward for the program.