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CHAMPAIGN – Josh Brent, the UI's large defensive tackle from Bloomington, spoke honestly about a confusing football season: "I can't put a finger on why we weren't winning, and I don't know what happened Saturday because we didn't really change anything (in defeating Michigan)."

Confusing? Well, consider that Minnesota drew a Big Ten-record 17 penalties Saturday and, calling up reserves to replace injured star Eric Decker, produced 416 aerial yards to rock Michigan State 42-34. Adam Weber fired five TD passes, matching Juice Williams' total for the season, with three of them coming from 62, 59 and 37 yards.

So, for you strategists, look for Gophers coach Tim Brewster to fill the air with footballs this Saturday against the UI's secondary.

You see, balance doesn't really matter. Minnesota beat Michigan State by garnering 416 of its 505 yards via the airways. Back here, Illinois throttled Michigan by ripping off 377 of its 500 yards on the ground. Before forming conclusions, consider that Minnesota defeated Illinois a year ago even as Williams outpassed Weber by a yardage margin of 462 to 184. None of it makes any sense.

Leaking air

And we are left to wonder what happened to an Illini aerial game that led the Big Ten with 3,232 yards in 2008.

Think back to August. Nearly all the same players were returning. Williams was one of 33 quarterbacks on the Davey O'Brien watch list. Arrelious Benn was projected as a first-round NFL draft pick. High praise was heaped on Florida transfer Jarred Fayson and tight end Michael Hoomanawanui. The Illini receiving corps was ranked the best in the Big Ten.

In what evolved into a perfect storm of disappointment, the UI passing attack fizzled. You can blame injuries, an erratic quarterback, a new coordinator, whatever ... statistics through eight games show Illinois has fallen from runaway first to runaway last in the Big Ten. Three UI quarterbacks have passed for 1,393 yards, a paltry 174 per game and an even worse 6.2 yards per throw.

Benn, in and out after spraining his ankle early against Missouri, has two catches in the last two games and hasn't scored a receiving touchdown in 13 games. At times he seems almost like the forgotten man. Whereas Northwestern's Zeke Markshausen leads the conference with 67 receptions, and nine other Big Ten players have 38 or more, Benn has 26, a sharp dropoff from a year ago when a 67-catch season was considered below his potential.

Fayson, sidelined the last two weekends, had eight catches in the first two games, and three since. Similarly hobbled but expected back this week, Hoomanawanui shows eight receptions. Jeff Cumberland's two catches out of the tight end position Saturday gave him six for the season. For all the recruiting hype about Cleveland's four-star Cordale Scott in 2008 and East St. Louis' Terry Hawthorne in 2009, Scott has yet to catch a ball in two seasons and Hawthorne has made a much-needed switch to bolster the defense.

So Illinois has only one player (Benn) with more than 11 receptions, and Minnesota's tight end, Nick Tow-Arnett, got nearly that many (eight) Saturday.

Double trouble

In setting a game plan, Brewster faces a quandary. Seeing how Mikel Leshoure and UI runners pounded the Wolverines, he'll probably pack the line of scrimmage and dare Williams to pass. But he also is reminded of last year's game when Williams used his arm to set a Memorial Stadium record.

It is a case of two scrambling teams obliged to gamble as they strive to patch holes. Illinois' 2-6 season finds the Illini last in the Big Ten in scoring offense, pass offense, rushing defense, total defense, punt returns, sacks by and against, and pass efficiency. It is not a pretty picture. Minnesota, meanwhile, is last in total offense, rushing offense, first downs and opponents' third-down conversions, and 10th in rushing defense, scoring offense, opponents' first downs, sacks by and third-down conversions.

For all those unimpressive figures, both clubs received emotional uplifts from Saturday's successes. After managing one touchdown in nine quarters, the Gophers erupted.

"We were coming off two rough road games (losses at Ohio State and Penn State)," Brewster said, "and part of our problems stemmed from how talented Ohio State and Penn State are defensively. We came back home and responded. We were motivated, and we got great offensive line play. We want to be our best coming down the stretch."

Brewster's Gophers lost their last 10 games in 2007 and their last five in 2008. Now 5-4, they can earn their second straight bowl bid with a single win against Illinois, South Dakota State or Iowa.

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