PULLMAN, Wash. – There's no more looking over the shoulder for Mark Hoekstra. Not this year.

Tim Lavery is playing baseball. Kirk Johnson is buried on the depth chart. Kurt Kittner and Jeff Ziegler still are learning.

The Illinois offense is in Hoekstra's hands, probably for the season. His first time out, Hoekstra wasn't thrilled with the results.

Twenty-five of 42 passes Saturday against Washington State fell incomplete, though many of those were dropped. Hoekstra never got in much of a pattern, except for one brief stretch late in the game. He would hit a couple, then throw a few incompletions.

It isn't the way Ron Turner's offense is supposed to work.

"Average," Hoekstra said about his performance. "I've done better. I've done worse. You're not going to play a perfect game."

Turner wasn't unhappy with his senior quarterback.

"Mark did OK," Turner said. "He's got to make some improvement and he will. He made some mental mistakes there. He needs to become a little more aware of some situations."

But nothing as bad as in 1997, when Hoekstra mistakes cost him his starting job. Hoekstra's only turnover wasn't his fault.

A Cougar defensive end came unscathed into the Illini backfield and forced a fumble. Hoekstra never knew what hit him. All he saw was another Cougar taking the ball for a touchdown. That looked familiar.

Unlike the past, the Illini didn't fold after falling behind 14-0.

"I don't think there ever will be a point where we don't think that we're in a ballgame," Hoekstra said. "Fourteen-0 is not a hole for us. I don't think that there was that tension that we felt last year. At the same time, you've got to come back and you've got to start making plays when you're down 14 points."

The blame for the lack of big plays falls partly on Hoekstra. None of his 17 completions went for more than 15 yards. Six went for 7 yards or less.

"That was very disappointing," Hoekstra said. "I don't think we really had the opportunity. If the defense doesn't let you throw it, that's fine."

The offense did adjust better during the game, Hoekstra said. The Illini tried to take what the defense allowed. Hoekstra didn't force pass to covered receivers.

"We made fewer mistakes than we had in the past," Hoekstra said. "We picked up some things that we might not have last year. We still didn't execute the way we had in practice."

Hoekstra has five days of practice to get ready for Middle Tennessee State.

"We can come out of this game going into next week with a lot of confidence because we did do a lot of good things," Hoekstra said. "There were a lot of things that we did that we wouldn't have last year."

With 10 regular season games left, Hoekstra's UI career is running out. Last week, Hoekstra said he wants to be remembered as the guy who helped turn Illinois' program back into a winner.

He figured that turn would start against the Cougars. Though the Illini never led, they trailed by just four points late in the second quarter.

At least Hoekstra has found himself a couple favorite receivers. Terrance Smalls and Michael Dean combined for nine catches.