Jogging off the field Saturday, Pierre Thomas paused to look back at the place where he spent the last five years playing football.

“On my way back to the locker room, I had to stop, take one final look just so I can remember everything that this field has brought me,” Thomas said after the game.

Thomas and 12 other Illini seniors had hoped their final game at Memorial Stadium would be a success.

But after leading Purdue through much of Saturday, Illinois suffered the same old fate, falling 42-31.

“Back in high school I had a terrible feeling, knowing we lost my senior day in high school,” quarterback Juice Williams said. “I can just imagine how it is in college, after going through so many workouts, summer training, off-season training, you want to leave home with a victory. I can only imagine the feeling of the seniors today, and I wish we could have come out with a victory for them.”

The Illini seemed to have a victory wrapped and ready, until a six-minute leg of the second half found the Boilermakers converting four Illinois turnovers into three Purdue touchdowns. In a span accounting for one-tenth of the game, Illinois’ 23-21 edge turned into a 42-23 runaway lead.

“It’s something that Coach Locksley has been preaching to us all year; the turnovers are causing us to beat ourselves,” quarterback Juice Williams said. “We just need to keep focusing on the fundamentals as a team. We need to keep drilling it until we get it corrected.”

Illinois’ defense tried to bounce back, and Brit Miller forced a Purdue fumble on the Illinois 42-yard line. Chris Norwell recovered and the Illini had the ball with 6:24 on the clock and an 11-point margin separating them from the Boilermakers.

The biggest momentum drain of the game, however, may have been when Illinois called it’s last time out on fourth-and-goal with 3:51 on the clock. Illinois needed a touchdown, a two-point conversion and a field goal to tie the game.

The Illini came back from the break and Williams attempted a 9-yard pass to DaJaun Warren, who dropped the ball and dismissed any chance of Illinois winning the game.

“My thinking at that point in time, we’re kicking into the wind on kickoffs, and I felt that would give us the best opportunity to win,” Zook said. “I was concerned whether we’d get that far in again; I knew if we got semi-close we’d have the field goal.”

While Illinois has lost a series of heartbreakers by a touchdown or less, the consensus Saturday was that this game was not an unlucky break. Illinois’ defense did not show the intensity of previous match ups and the offense struggled to connect. Williams completed just 8-of-29 pass attempts, throwing one interception and turning over two fumbles.

Illinois’ offensive strength was once again its rushing game. Williams rushed for 145 net yards and one touchdown and Thomas added 105 net yards and a touchdown of his own.

“(A Purdue player) came right through the line, and I knew it was just me or him, and I couldn’t let that go,” Thomas said. “I can’t remember who it was, but I knew that was my main goal, I had to get that touchdown.”

Last week’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, J Leman, led Illinois’ defense yet again. Leman finished with 13 tackles, 2 pass break-ups and 2 quarterback hurries.

Illinois now has one chance to end another losing season on a much-hoped-for positive note. And while the underclassmen say they want this win for the seniors, they also admit to wanting it for themselves.

“I came in with these guys, they’re like family for me,” safety Kevin Mitchell said. “We’ve been through some tough times. It’s tough for them, because they see the bright future in this program. We’re just going to keep building and building so they have something to come back to.”