Another heartbreaker

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Paul Mandina stared with a stoic look on his face at the brown lectern before him. Mandina scratched his head as he tried to explain the frustration after the Hoosiers had just lost another close football game. Illinois squeaked past IU, 42-35, before 54,283 fans, ending the Hoosiers' bowl chances.\nThe Hoosiers' senior defensive tackle and co-captain could not find the words.\n"It's indescribable," Mandina said.\nFor the second consecutive week and the fourth time this season, IU put itself in position to win a football game before watching its hard work dissolve in the wake of a few plays. In a script that seems to stay the same with only the names of the opponents changing, the Hoosiers still have not found a way to win close games.\nAfter IU (3-6, 2-4) tied the game at 35 on junior quarterback Antwaan Randle El's fourth touchdown run of the game with 5:08 left in regulation, the Illini (5-4, 2-4) marched down the field. A pass interference call on junior cornerback Marcus Floyd set up Illinois at the Hoosiers' 13-yard line. \nIn the end, Illini junior quarterback Kurt Kittner scored from one yard out for the win with 25 seconds left. Two last-gasp passes from midfield fell to the ground, and the Hoosiers have lost four out of their last five.\n"There's not a lot that can be said that hasn't been said before," coach Cam Cameron said. "I've never been around a group of guys that do so many good things and come up short. That's the bottom line."\nOnce again, besides two or three mistakes, the Hoosiers played well enough to win. IU ran for 447 yards on the ground. After working the outside with the option early, the Hoosiers attacked the middle of the field throughout the rest of the game with junior running back Levron Williams and senior fullback De'Wayne Hogan.\nBy the end of the day, Williams had run for 161 yards and Hogan had piled up 76 yards and a touchdown. But the star again was Randle El, who ran for 209 yards and the four of the Hoosiers' five touchdowns.\n "(Randle El) has had a lot of good performances," Cameron said. "That may have been his best."\n Illinois coach Ron Turner praised Randle El as one of the best players in the country before and after the game.\n "I said earlier in the week he is the best player in college football and I have not changed my opinion," Turner said.\n The Illini were sparked by Kittner's play, who rebounded from a bad day at Michigan State last weekend to throw for 277 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-29 passing. Sophomore flanker Aaron Moorehead repeatedly burned the Hoosiers' secondary with double moves and finished the day with five receptions for 103 yards and two scores.\nJunior cornerback Sharrod Wallace missed the game for IU. Redshirt freshman Duane Stone and Floyd, a former running back, picked up most of the playing time Saturday. Kittner attacked the inexperienced cornerbacks throughout the game.\n"That wasn't a surprise," Cameron said. "It was obvious. Illinois did a nice job of exploiting that."\nIllinois got on the scoreboard first with an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown by freshman Christian Morton. The play was the latest display of the shaky special teams that have plagued the Hoosiers throughout the year.\n"My No. 1 concern going into the year was the kicking game," Cameron said.\nFreshman punter Ryan Hamre handled the first punt, which went 32 yards. Cameron switched to Randle El for the next kick, and Randle El delivered a 55-yard bomb. Then, in the fourth quarter, Randle El punted for the second time in the game.\nThis time, five Illinois defenders, including starting defensive linemen senior Fred Wakefield and junior Terrell Washington, circled and repeatedly punished Randle El after he got the kick away. Roughing the kicker was called on the Illini and unsportsmanlike conduct was whistled on the Hoosiers after a coach ran onto the field to protect Randle El.\n"I got attacked," Randle El said. "They were just trying to get me off my game. I got my own shots in."\nCameron did not accuse the Illini of playing dirty or trying to hurt Randle El because he was having such a good game.\n"(Turner) would not do something to try and hurt a guy," Cameron said. "He's just too classy."\nEarly in the game, the Hoosiers moved at will up and down the field. IU grabbed its first lead at 14-7 with a four-yard Randle El scamper with less than one minute gone in the second quarter.\n"They never stopped us," Randle El said. "We turned the ball over twice and had a few big penalties."\nThe biggest turnover came at a bad time for the Hoosiers. IU had moved to the Illini goal line in the middle of the third quarter trailing 28-21. As Randle El was about to enter the end zone, senior linebacker Robert Franklin stripped him of the ball and Washington recovered for Illinois at their own two-yard line.\n"I should have just covered up the ball more than I did," Randle El said. "That's a mistake on my part."\nThat play and the entire game could serve as an example of the whole season from the Hoosiers' perspective. Even though IU was knocked out of bowl contention with the loss Saturday, they said they are still keeping the faith.\n"It's always one or two plays that get us," Randle El said. "We'll get something going, sooner or later."\nAs much as the players and coaches believe in the system and each other, Cameron said he knows there can only be so many moral victories in one season. \n"The bottom line is to win football games and we didn't do that," Cameron said.