DETROIT – There are worse things than losing a football game, particularly in a city where General Motors' shares have dropped from $33.95 to $4.36 in one year, where Ford is in a major cost-cutting mode, and where those erstwhile auto giants burned through nearly $15 billion in cash reserves from July to September.

Hard times are coming. And in the fun-and-games department, they're already here for the Illini football team.

This 2008 edition figured to be a good one with significant numbers returning from a Rose Bowl squad. It hasn't been. Not all season. Not from the moment Missouri ran up 52 points on a porous defense. Not when they had to sweat out a 20-17 home win against Louisiana- Lafayette.

If the home loss to Minnesota didn't make that obvious, Saturday's 23-17 kneel-down to Western Michigan was the clincher. Sure, the conditions were sterile. The turnstile count at Ford Field was a paltry 12,865. That's no excuse because a bowl game was in the balance. And it was the Broncos, now 8-2, who took a big step in that direction ... and a 5-5 Illini team still needs a win against Ohio State or Northwestern to qualify.

Ron Zook, conceding "we've slipped back a bit," says after each disappointing effort that "now we'll see what we're made of ... the next 14 days are crucial."

Well, Coach, we're getting more than an inkling, just like in September 2002 when the returnees from a 10-2 team lost to Missouri, Southern Mississippi and, ugh, San Jose State. Saturday's game felt like that one, when Ron Turner's squad went into the dumper and set in full motion a 13-for-58 UI tailspin.

To the air

When Wisconsin and Iowa stacked up the UI running game, many of us thought it was their defensive prowess. Then we saw the Broncos, who gave up 47 points to Nebraska and 38 to Central Michigan, dig in and build a 23-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. And both Bronco touchdowns came on whirlwind aerial assaults directly after second-quarter interceptions against Juice Williams.

Williams is at times a dynamic passer. He hit a 61-yard bomb to Jeff Cumberland to set up the UI's first TD, and he nearly pulled the game out with a 54-yarder to A.J. Jenkins, who slipped behind the defense and tumbled untouched at the 18 with a minute left. If Jenkins had kept his balance, Illinois probably would have won a game that Western Michigan deserved.

But Williams missed his last four to finish an inconsistent 20 for 45 overall as the Broncos rattled him with blitzes and changing defenses, and nearly picked off two more that were within their grasp. His rival, Tim Hiller, got a break early. With Illinois ahead 7-3, his short pass was returned for an apparent UI touchdown by Dere Hicks, but Hicks was charged with holding on the play. It was one of only three penalties assessed against Illinois all day, and Illinois didn't get a turnover until linebacker Brit Miller, playing brilliantly on a 17-tackle day, ripped the ball from receiver Robert Arnheim with 6:17 to go.

That clutch play offered the Illini the first of two opportunities to save the day, but they weren't up to the task. Of his final passes, badly off the mark, Williams said simply: "I got drilled. I couldn't step up the way I wanted to. They really came after us on third- and fourth-down plays."

MAC attack

For every loser, there is a winner, and Bronco coach Bill Cubit, who knocked Iowa out of a bowl bid last year, celebrated the Mid-American Conference's fourth win against a Big Ten team this season.

"It was unbelievable to see our kids battle with injuries putting so many of our key players on the sideline," Cubit said. "In four years here, I haven't seen a group fight like that.

"If somebody goes down, you can't let the team down. We had guys in there that nobody knows and, to me, that was the story. We started without Juan Nunez (48 receptions), and then we lost Spider (Schneider Julien) and our tight end (Branden Ledbetter). Hiller went to his reads and hit the guys that were open. Those catches by Jamarko Simmons (11 for 174 yards) were as good as I've seen. I told him that he had to carry us.

"Defensively, I was hoping we could pressure Juice, but I didn't know if we could. We did. We got to him."

So, there you have it. Williams, the Big Ten's total offense leader, was able to pick up 68 yards rushing and 328 passing, but the other guy, Hiller, was more efficient. Arrelious Benn caught seven passes for 111 yards, but Simmons outperformed him.

Detroit is a nice place to avoid. Unfortunately for the Illini, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.