To be fair, two of our losses were on fluky 4th quarters in which we had momentum, and we couldn't have predicted the way the 4th went (Wisconsin and Northwestern). I think we were destined to be a 5 or 6 win team this year, and the gods chose 5. We had a LOT of negatives, there's no denying it. But we also had a LOT of positives. They just didn't balance the way we had hoped.
Oh well.
In its final six games, illinois lost 4th quarter leads in all of them, ultimately winning half of them. Here are my main complaints:
1.
Ultra-conservative play with the lead. This happened in all six of those games except against Northwestern. Had we not fumbled the punt that gave NU the go ahead score, I have no doubt we would’ve concentrated on running down the clock with 10 minutes to play instead of keeping the offense open in a better attempt to score.
2.
Failure to Consider Game Tempo when Going for Two. Too often, Bielema would go for the two point conversion at a point where, while the math makes sense in a one-possession situation, it fails to consider the multiple scoring options ahead. We lost the NU game by two and we missed two two-point conversions. That math is pretty simple. In the Iowa game, where scoring opportunities are limited, an early fourth quarter attempt would be justified. Against Northwestern, where the scoring was brisk, it cost us at least a chance to win in overtime.
Now, to be fair, we were competitive, at least for a half, in every game we played this year except for one (Kansas). We’ve come a long way since the dreadful years of Beckman, Cubit and Lovie, but it’s frustrating when the players have put themselves in positions to win, only to see those maddening coaching decisions put them unnecessarily behind the eight ball.
