Not lost on spirit

This is the encore?\nA 35-14 loss to Illinois, is the follow-up to last week's offensive awakening at Wisconsin?\nThe IU offense that romped for 631 yards one week ago managed 359 Saturday, and it virtually disappeared late in the game. The defense didn't do much better, letting Illinois run at will.\n"In the fourth quarter, they got to where they just pounded us," coach Cam Cameron said. "There's no other way around that."\nThere's no way around much of what IU did in the second half.\nNot the 31 total yards it gained in the third quarter. Not the disappearance of its run defense. And not the 21 consecutive points allowed. \nThe downward spiral started with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter.\nIllinois quarterback Kurt Kittner had a touchdown pass called back because of offensive pass interference, but on the next play -- a third and goal from the 18-yard line -- he connected with Walter Young in the corner of the end zone.\nThe play gave Illinois a 14-6 lead, weakening IU's defense -- the Illini scored every drive thereafter.\nIt was also Illinois' last pass of the game. The Illini relied on the run in the fourth quarter, and IU, despite stopping the run in the first half, couldn't even slow it down. The Hoosiers gave up 204 rushing yards after halftime.\n"You play so well and play almost mistake-free football (at Wisconsin), then you come and you make a lot of mistakes from a defensive perspective," senior cornerback Sharrod Wallace said. "You can't do that. You've got to go out there and understand what you've got to do and execute it."\nStill, the defense kept Illinois in check for the first half, and senior quarterback Antwaan Randle El said that should have been enough.\n"I like the way our defense played," Randle El said. "Granted, later on in the game, Illinois got going a little bit, but if we go down and score when they get them stopped and it's still 7-6, then it changes the whole complexion of the game. The offense has to execute better."\nThe offense couldn't execute at all in the second half.\nIU ended the first half with an eight-minute, 88-yard drive that stalled at the 1-yard line. Freshman Bryan Robertson, who had his first extra-point kick blocked, missed a 28-yard field goal, and the Hoosiers couldn't move the ball again.\nThe inability to run the ball outside hurt the offense.\n"We're not a big power, inside down-hill running team," Cameron said. "When we're at our best, we're on the perimeter. We know that."\nIllinois knew that.\nThe Illini took away the outside running game, containing Randle El and covering senior running back Levron Williams. And when the option game got shut down, IU could do nothing to compensate. It couldn't run the ball up the middle, and Randle El's passing was lackluster for 18-of-36 for 165 yards.\nMany of those passes came on IU's last drive, when the Hoosiers trailed 28-6. Randle El found senior Henry Frazier in the end zone and converted the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 28-14, but Illinois recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove 51 yards for its final touchdown, capping a performance by IU that looked nothing like the one it had one week ago.