What did you see Saturday when Illinois safety Donsay Hardeman was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul in the fourth quarter?

Did you see the same penalty as the referees? Did you see a missed opportunity for the Illini defense to get an interception? Did you see a player who is quickly gaining a reputation as a heavy hitter doing what he does best?

“When I saw the ball tipped, I saw the receiver try to come back and catch the ball, and my first instinct was to go stop the receiver,” Hardeman said after the game. “I thought the receiver was trying to make a second effort toward the ball and I was just making a play.”

Regardless of your point of view on the play or the validity behind the penalty, it was clear to see that the turn of events kept Ohio State’s game-killing drive alive. A drive that basically closed the book on the Illini’s season.

After the 30-20 loss to the Buckeyes, Illinois has a below .500 record at 5-6 and need to win their last game against Northwestern to become bowl eligible. Of course being bowl eligible doesn’t mean anything. Especially when six other teams in the conference already have seven or more wins with Wisconsin most likely getting their seventh victory next week when they play Cal Poly. Even if Illinois takes down the Wildcats in Evanston this Saturday, it looks like there won’t be enough room.

It’s clear to see that we need to start looking somewhere else. It’s time to take a look at 2009.

For those of you still looking to figure out all the problems with this season’s team, it’s probably a fruitless effort (see above). But don’t worry, there’s a whole mess of problems waiting for you to think about with next season’s team.

The most pressing and alarming issue is the defense, which will be losing a playmaker at every level. Defensive end Will Davis and linebacker Brit Miller will be graduating and cornerback Vontae Davis will almost certainly be heading out of Champaign and into the NFL.

With so many vital players gone, who takes over?

Last season, Miller was waiting in the wings while J Leman took his victory lap around Memorial Stadium. Who’s going to step up next year?

It certainly doesn’t appear to be the disappearing Martez Wilson (most of you know how I feel about him and his role on this team). Maybe Josh Brent could develop into a game-changer on the defensive line or Dere Hicks could become a force in the secondary, but I just don’t see that next leader in the wings. That’s a big problem.

Offensively speaking, what is going to happen with quarterback Juice Williams?

The offense – with all its speedy skill players – should be one of the best in the conference next season, but there’s been a slump in the development of the man behind the wheel.

In what has become a case of Rex Grossman syndrome, we’re seeing way too much Good Juice, Bad Juice football being played. At times this season, Williams looked like one of the best and most balanced quarterbacks in the nation. Recently though, he’s seemed to have taken a step backward by returning to his interception-prone form.

I don’t think Juice has maxed out on his potential and growth, but these last few weeks are not the lasting images I want to have going into the offseason. He needs to show some progress.

Finally, what about the coaches? We’ve seen that head coach Ron Zook and his staff can recruit like nobody’s business, but all those athletes don’t mean anything if you don’t know how to use them.

The schemes this year (particularly with the offense) seemed to fall apart at times but the role of the coaching staff on game day will be more important than ever in 2009 because of the defensive liabilities and offensive inconsistency.

Based on what I’ve seen this season, that could be an issue.

I don’t know if Hardeman’s hit was a legal play or not, but I did see a player taking out a whole season’s worth of frustration on his opponent.

Maybe some of you are still crossing your fingers for a bowl berth miracle, but it’s time to look ahead. And if you can’t open your eyes and see the problems down the line then you need to take a closer look.

They’re very easy to see.

Kyle Betts is a graduate student. He can be reached at [email protected].