Despite 612 yards, 30 first downs and 35 points, the Illinois offense said it failed on Saturday against Indiana.

“It’s just not good enough,” offensive coordinator Bill Cubit said. “We have a goal chart and the No. 1 goal is to score more points than the other team. If we didn’t do that, we failed.”

Illinois left opportunities on the field in the form of failed fourth down conversions. Illinois was 0-for-3 on fourth downs for the game, while Indiana was a perfect 3-for-3 on its three tries.

In the loss, quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase broke his personal record for passing yards in a game with 450 — his previous high was 416 earlier this year against Southern Illinois. Meanwhile, wide receiver Steve Hull tallied 224 yards receiving, the second-most in program history.

“I told (defensive coordinator Tim Banks) after the game I was sorry I didn’t help him more,” Cubit said. “We’re all in this together. Right after the game I told him that I wish we could have done a little more for them. And I’m sure he’s saying the same thing.”

Many Ohio ties for Illini players, coaches

If the stakes for playing the No. 3 team in the country weren’t high enough, the Illinois roster has 18 players that hail from the Buckeye state, possibly adding a little extra motivation for the game.

“Especially coming from Ohio and from past experiences, it brings a little more meaning to me,” linebacker Mason Monheim said. Monheim’s hometown, Orrville, Ohio, is about 100 miles away from the Ohio State campus in Columbus.

Illinois head coach Tim Beckman’s previous job at Toledo faced the in-state Buckeyes twice in his three-year tenure, losing 38-0 in 2009 and 27-22 in 2011. Beckman has ties with Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer as well, as the two worked together while both at Bowling Green. In addition, Beckman spent two years in Columbus as Ohio State’s cornerbacks coach from 2005-06 under then-coach Jim Tressel.

OL Cvijanovic out for game

The Illini lost starting left tackle Simon Cvijanovic for at least a week with a left high-ankle sprain sustained Saturday against Indiana. While Cvijanovic has been ruled out for this weekend’s contest against Ohio State, Beckman said he hopes to have the junior left tackle back the following week against Purdue.

Cvijanovic was injured in the first quarter against the Hoosiers on the Illini’s first drive of the game. He was carted off the field and was on crutches on the sidelines later in the game.

True freshman Austin Schmidt filled in for Cvijanovic and figures to start at left tackle against the Buckeyes. Schmidt had mainly been used as a reserve on the right side to limit Corey Lewis’ plays this season.

“A true freshman getting to play a substantial amount and got to play and did a good job,” Beckman said. “Also because Simon was out, Corey Lewis had to play more. He had to play more reps than he’s played in basically three years.”

Scheelhaase named finalist for Wuerffel Trophy

Scheelhaase was named one of 12 finalists for the 2013 Wuerffel Trophy, which honors a college football player that “best combines exemplary community service with outstanding academic and athletic achievement.”

There were 73 nominations earlier in the year but Scheelhaase along with Iowa’s James Morris and Minnesota’s Chris Hawthrone were the only finalists from the Big Ten.

Stephen can be reached at [email protected] and @steve_bourbon.