'It was a lot of Indiana beating Indiana.' Hoosiers' last stand falls flat vs. Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In the end, the very things it seemed might underpin Indiana’s unlikely late-season change of fortunes became the Hoosiers’ undoing.

Right up until John Paddock’s hard-to-fathom fourth touchdown pass of Saturday afternoon nestled comfortably into Isaiah Williams’ arms, finishing a 48-45 Illinois overtime win, the Hoosiers believed.

They’d allowed well more than 600 yards of offense, and trailed by eight points with 59:30 ticked away. Indiana (3-7, 1-6) had done everything it could to beat itself in this game and still, until that exact moment when they were no longer allowed, the Hoosiers still believed the improbable was on the table.

An unlikely comeback win at Illinois. An unlikely comeback from dead in the water at 2-6 to reach bowl eligibility for the first time in three years. A revival built on clean football, sturdy defense and stubbornness. Proof of life for a program that looked like it had drifted off the map just three weeks ago.

None of that came here, to Illinois’ Memorial Stadium, and nothing is what IU left with as a result.

“Very, very, very, very, very, very frustrating,” IU coach Tom Allen said, that frustration intensifying his candor even after the game.

In one way, it was surprising to see Indiana’s last, best hope for retaining some sense of faith this season to go the way it did.

Allen’s teams have always prided themselves on their defensive toughness. On their ability to disrupt and contain offenses, even when they could not shut them down entirely.

Those qualities were good for one drive Saturday, a three-and-out that saw Illinois move back two yards. The Illini (5-5, 3-4) scored on five of their next six possessions, three of those five scores touchdowns.

Which was insult and which was injury? The ease with which Illinois’ backup quarterback — a player Indiana said it prepared for and played like it did not — tore holes in the Hoosiers’ secondary, or the near-total inability to disrupt the ensuing offensive rhythm at all.

The Illini scored five touchdowns in regulation. The average distance covered by those five drives: 81 yards. The average number of plays required: five.

“Just so disappointed in our defense,” Allen said, emotion coursing through his words. “Shocked, in the first half especially. Just blown coverages.”

Paddock threw for 507 yards. He averaged nearly 14.1 yards per attempt. Not completion, attempt. Several elements of his performance were personal bests, even stacked up next to his time as Ball State’s starting quarterback. He had a career day at Indiana’s expense, the Hoosiers doing precious little to slow him down.

“We didn’t play up to our standard,” linebacker Jacob Mangum-Farrar said. “We weren’t playing disciplined, and it showed, from top to bottom.”

It was precisely the ability to limit those kinds of mistakes that gave IU hope for a late-season resurgence to begin with.

Promising performances at Penn State gave way to last weekend’s home win against Wisconsin, a game which saw Indiana commit just two penalties and no turnovers. The Hoosiers didn’t beat themselves, didn’t let Wisconsin beat them, and in so doing gave rise to their own belief they might be able to make something of what looked like a nothing season.

All of which they spoiled Saturday. In addition to those breakdowns, they committed seven penalties for 80 yards.

Even when Illinois tried to do the job for them, committing 14 penalties and two turnovers of its own, the Hoosiers still could not take advantage. Redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby delivered the standout performance of his young career, accounting for 368 sack-adjusted total yards and five combined passing and rushing touchdowns. He even marshaled an 85-yard scoring drive, plus the ensuing 2-point conversion, inside the game’s final two minutes just to force overtime.

In the final accounting, it still wasn’t enough.

“It was a lot of Indiana beating Indiana,” Mangum-Farrar said. “Breakdowns, busted coverages, or somebody didn’t get the ball. It was rarely like, ‘Oh this guy just beat me.’ I feel like we gave them a lot of stuff.”

With respect to Illinois, he wasn’t wrong. And with respect to Indiana, that’s even more damning.

There’s no irony in this. It shouldn’t be surprising the very qualities that were supposed to provide the foundation for IU’s resurgence caused the pivotal collapse.

Perhaps the greatest quality in sports is consistency. Whether in individual or collective performance, winning teams have it, and losing teams don’t.

Why couldn’t this team sustain its defensive improvement on the day its offense finally arrived like it hadn’t in three years? Bad teams stay bad because they can’t consistently string good performances together. Bad football begets bad football. Losing finds a way. Indiana fans need not be taught this, but they got another lesson Saturday anyway.

Allen underscored postgame the importance of the Hoosiers’ two remaining games, trophy contests against Michigan State and at Purdue. Two teams as bad as or worse, frankly, than Indiana, so perhaps the Hoosiers will be favored in both.

Yet even winning these last two would feel bittersweet. Trophies and all, they’d still stand as a reminder of what might have been possible, but wasn’t, for all the old, familiar reasons.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU football vs. Illinois: Hoosiers' bowl bid gone just as hope began