Blame the offense, blame the defense, blame the coaches, but don’t blame sophomore kicker Jason Reda for Illinois’ 35-7 loss to Iowa.

Whether it was a dropped pass in the end zone or an interception on the goal line, the Illini had already squandered at least 12 badly needed points before Reda put one foot on the turf.

“Certain plays in a game make a world of difference, especially in the Big Ten,” quarterback Tim Brasic said after Saturday’s game. “You just go on momentum swings. Especially being on the road, you go down on those big drives. All of a sudden, it’s quiet in the stadium, and you feel like you own it. Then you come away with zero points.”

Before Saturday, Reda – whose family and friends are Hawkeyes’ fans – was one of the few guarantees Illinois had on offense. He had made 7-of-8 attempts, and his only miss was a long shot from 53 yards against Rutgers.

Maybe Iowa’s infamous pink locker room got to him, but either way, it’s not his fault that the scoreboard didn’t reflect the fight Illinois gave the Hawkeyes.

“We shouldn’t put it on him,” Brasic said. “It’s one thing to be third-and-10 on the 35 and we’re just trying to move it closer for the field goal, but when we have it inside the 10, we have to put it in.”

If there was any way to torpedo its success offensively, Illinois made sure to do it.

On the Illini’s second drive, Brasic underthrew wide receiver Jody Ellis at Iowa’s 2 yard-line, which was intercepted. Their third drive was cut short when Brasic couldn’t connect with Kendrick Jones for a first down. But those miscues were merely a prelude to Franklin Payne’s dropped ball in the end zone to end Illinois’ longest drive of the season – 20 plays, 90 yards.

“If I’m not mistaken, at halftime we came in (and) we had more yards than they did,” head coach Ron Zook said. “Both offenses were going up and down. The problem was, they were getting points, and we weren’t getting any.”

“We’ve got to get the ball into the end zone, and we’ve got to play better on defense.”

Despite the lack of a finishing touch, the offense looked better than last week’s 61-14 smackdown courtesy of Michigan State. Iowa may have controlled the game from the opening snap, but Illinois put itself in position to make big plays thanks to running back Pierre Thomas’ 100 yards rushing, and Brasic completing 32-of-44 passes for 231 yards – in spite of getting pressured all game.

“Believe it or not, I think we played better,” Zook said. “We fought until the end, but we’re in a funk for some reason. We have to keep playing and play ourselves out of it.”

Thoughts and Second Thoughts

The Illini won the coin toss again Saturday to move to 4-1 on the year. If only winning the game afterwards were as easy for them as choosing heads or tails.

Iowa had 301 yards rushing this week. Last week, Michigan State had 376 yards rushing, and Cal had 294 yards on the ground before that. It looks like the defensive improvement against the run has topped out at terrible.

Wide receiver Kyle Hudson has to be the reincarnation of wide receiver Mark Kornfeld. He catches everything Brasic tosses his way, including a 41 yard bomb, which was the longest play of the day.

Losing by 28 is actually progress. Illinois finally showed the ability to string together successful drives, now all that’s left is the finishing 7-point touch.

Hats off to senior defensive back Kyle Kleckner who refused to sit-out after getting stitches to close up wounds in his face from getting stepped on when making a tackle.

Dan Berrigan is a senior in engineering. He can be reached at [email protected].