You know, I love the design and color of those Illini football uniforms.

They're sleek, tapered and look cutting-edge cool. Recruits love 'em, too.

I like their spread offense, the way athletic receivers force a defense to scatter and the many options Illinois has because of it.

Statistically, this is an offense that can shred people.

The newly renovated Memorial Stadium looks fantastic, a clear sign that the football program has marched proudly into the 21st century. Yes, Illinois has packaged it all rather nicely.

But you know what? Looks can be deceiving.

Strip away all the glitz and glimmer, all the statistics and cushy amenities, all the big talk and big dreams, and this is still a team just average in its ability to win football games. And there's nothing special about average.

Illinois whiffed on a wonderful opportunity to climb the Big Ten ladder Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., letting the woeful Wisconsin Badgers hang around so long they finally forgot they were three steps below mediocre. And by the time Illinois helped give Wisconsin a false sense of confidence, the Badgers scored 17 unanswered points and beat the Illini, 27-17.

It didn't even have to be pretty Saturday. The Illini could have stumbled, staggered and kicked aside a haywagon filled with mistakes, so long as they returned from the House of Cheddar with a victory, any old victory. No one would have complained, because road wins at places like Camp Randall are never automatic.

But Illinois produced enough self-induced misery to make victory impossible, something coach Ron Zook was lamenting almost as soon as the final clock expired.

"I apologize to Illini Nation," Zook said. "We didn't come here ready to play and that's our job.

"It's the same thing we always say. You can't turn the ball over and you can't give up big plays."

If turnovers and allowing big plays are the Cardinal sins of football, Illinois should be locked in the confessional until about Wednesday.

Juice Williams' succession of fantastic games came to a screeching halt with three interceptions. His first was an unforced error on a horrific overthrow, the second was as much Fred Sykes' fault because he stopped running his deep route, and the third was mostly Williams' doing, again on an overthrow.

Big plays allowed?

Oh, Zook's head must be throbbing when he thinks back to Wisconsin's third-and-17 from the Illini 49 in the third quarter. Just give up 16 yards and the drive fizzles. Instead, Badger quarterback Dustin Sherer hit David Gilreath with a pass at the 37 and Gilreath danced through the defense all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.

And how about when Wisconsin faced third-and-11 from the Illini 21 in the fourth quarter? Intead of stuffing the run, the defense had a fatal breakdown as Zach Brown ran 14 yards to set up another touchdown. Yeesch!

About the only player who gets a free pass on this one is linebacker Brit Miller, the Decatur Delight, who played at a near superhuman level, recording 16 tackles, a quarterback sack, a deflected pass and a three-hour shower of praise from the announcers on ESPN2.

That's fine, because he deserved it. What a shame it was wasted.

The thing is, Illinois can still wiggle into a bowl game and can still make waves by knocking off Ohio State.

Wait, you say! You watched the Wisconsin game and you say, 'No way Illinois beats Ohio State.'

Ah, but there's the rub. Illinois has a history of winning the games you're just sure they will lose.

The trouble is, they have a more substantiated history of losing the games you know they should win.

Iowa last year. Minnesota and Wisconsin so far this year.

And Iowa this coming weekend?

An average team has no more than an average chance in that one.

mtupper@herald-review.com|421-7983