Dating to Chris White's deflected field goal attempt that banged into the crossbar against Michigan in 1985 — a 3-3 tie — Illinois failed for the sixth time to kick-change a result in the closing moments.

Derek Dimke's carom off the upright at :00 Saturday allowed Penn State to get away with a 10-7 win. Other examples:

Bret Scheuplein had two overly long opportunities from (1) 57 yards in the 10-9 loss to Washington State in Chicago in 1994 and (2) 54 yards in the 3-3 tie at Wisconsin in 1995. John Gockman, set back 5 yards due to a false start, went wide from 43 yards at :32 in a 6-3 loss at UCLA in 2003. Jason Reda had a chance to win Ron Turner's final game in 2004 but missed at :05, and Illinois lost to Northwestern in overtime.

There was no last-gasp chance in the 16-14 loss to Arizona here in 1993, but the Illini had two blocked field goals and a miss along the way.

Looking back, Illinois has had generally good fortune in these situations. Since 1973, when Dan Beaver kicked his fifth field goal at 1:37 to nip Purdue 15-13, the UI has won 11 games with kicks in the last two minutes ... and a 12th that tied national champion Ohio State 16-16 here (by Gockman), only to see the Illini lose in overtime. Mike Bass beat Michigan State 20-17 at :00 in 1980, and his last-play 46-yarder stunned Wisconson 29-28 in 1982. Illinois edged Ohio State in 1985 and 1991 with White and Chris Richardson connecting at the end. Doug Higgins had three winning boots, Reda beat Michigan 23-20 at :06 in 2006, and Matt Eller kicked the 46-yard bulls-eye at :24 to down Iowa 27-24 in 2008.

When it's that close, it can go either way. In September's 23-20 win over Western Michigan, Dimke's tie-breaker came with 8:14 to go.

All these fantastic finishes sure are fun to watch, but why wait until the end?

Ohio State thrilling defeat of Wisconsin on Saturday saw these power-packed teams score four touchdowns in the last 4:39.

Better yet, in Western Kentucky's 31-28 defeat of Louisiana-Monroe, those two scored 22 points in the final minute of regulation.

Which raises the question: Is there a way to influence players to start games thinking in terms of the two-minute offense? Might hypnosis work? What's with all the early-game conservatism?

There were numerous examples, beginning with Penn State on Saturday in which the winning team came alive after Illinois dominated defensively for 57 minutes.

Penn State roared 80 yards to score its only TD with 1:08 left. For a brief spell, a previously inept Matt McGloin performed like a healthy Peyton Manning.

In Minneapolis, the Gophers scored a late TD, recovered the on-sides kickoff and scored again at 2:48 to nip Iowa, 22-21. Missouri rallied with two fourth-quarter TDs and edged Texas A&M in overtime.

And Stanford! Did you see that? The Cardinal and USC combined for 16 points in the first half, and 88 points thereafter in a stirring triple overtime. There were seven TDs in the last 3:08 plus overtimes.

It seems like everybody begins by sparring and feeling out each other. Then toward the end, the roof flies off. And sometimes it's better to be behind because, when you're ahead, the play calls are more geared to running the clock than scoring. Don't look for an answer here. But all of us can see what happens when the passers are inoculated with desperation.

There is no better example than Illinois which, in its four close Big Ten games, scored 24 points in the first three quarters and 42 in the pass-heavy last quarter vs. Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue and Penn State.

Rougher road ahead

Any preseason discussion of Illini football ultimately touched on eight home games and the weakest-ever early schedule.

Becoming bowl eligible by midseason will be more difficult in the future.

For example, the 2012 Illini will travel to Arizona State, and will open the Big Ten season against Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan, the latter two on the road.

In 2013, the Illini take on Cincinnati and Washington early, and open the Big Ten against Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State.

Those schedules offer reasons why only a cockeyed optimistic would be looking long-term on the bright side.

Another concern is that the three-game losing streak, which could soon reach four or five, might impact an already sluggish recruiting season. It is early — repeat, there is time to recover — but rivals.com and scout.com have Illinois far down the list.

Michigan is either No. 1 or 2 in the nation, with 23 commitments of which 11 are four-star prospects. Illinois ranks last or next-to-last in the Big Ten, with no four-star ratings among their nine verbals.

If you are a realist, it's not easy to paint a happy face on the next two November games, the future schedules and the recruiting developments.

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