BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In Illinois' 1-10 season, disappointments and losses have blurred together from one week to the next.

But Saturday's 17-14 loss at Indiana stood out.

Because until Hoosiers quarterback Matt LoVecchio scrambled for a touchdown with 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Illini looked like they had finally broken out of their streak.

And that taste of a win made their seventh Big Ten defeat hurt even more.

"I've never had a moment this bad," Illini fullback Carey Davis said. "It's pretty tough. Being up and then coming back and not being able to finish it off.

"I was thinking about just finally winning, and being able to smile and have fun, but I guess not. There's nothing really to smile about."

After the game, Davis wasn't the only Illini in mourning of the win that could have been. A visibly shaken corps of players shook their heads in a daze as they recapped the missed opportunities, the penalties and the Hoosiers' comeback scoring drive that snatched away their first Big Ten win.

"It's kind of funny how fast something can be so good and then things can look so bad," Illini safety Marc Jackson said.

The Illini started slow, letting Indiana (2-8, 1-5) open with an easy scoring drive — the Hoosiers' first score in the first quarter in six games — and then missing their own scoring opportunity when J.J. Tubbs kicked a 39-yard field goal wide left.

But the Illini rebounded from falling behind when second and third quarter touchdown catches by Eric McGoey and Ade Adeyemo gave them their first lead since Sept. 20.

Then the usual problems set in.

Illini kicker John Gockman, who was replaced by Tubbs early in the game because of his practice performance, missed a 36-yard field goal in the third quarter, his third miss in two games.

"They were big. I'm sure J.J. will say the same thing — we feel really responsible for those," Gockman said. "I don't think it's form or anything. Maybe it's mental, I don't know."

The Illini missed another possible score to open the fourth quarter when Christian Morton's 52-yard punt return for a touchdown was called back because of an Illini holding penalty. Morton was also called for unsportsmanlike conduct — the Illini's second of the game — for high-stepping into the end zone in his first return since dropping a punt in the UCLA game.

The combined penalties pushed Illinois back to their own 23-yard line.

"My getting caught up in the moment hurt us even more. It really kind of hurt the team," Morton said. "It's just something that happened. I just got caught up in the moment. I was so happy that I finally got my hands on the ball again."

Another two penalties halted the Illini at the 27-yard line on fourth down. They punted, and Indiana scored a field goal on the next drive.

And then, LoVecchio stepped in.

The junior QB led Indiana's final scoring drive with 2:52 to go, and marched the Hoosiers 62 yards to the eight-yard line. Then, just as he had several times earlier in the day, he ran through a gaping hole up the middle to give the Hoosiers the win.

"I could just feel the open space around me," Illini linebacker Matt Sinclair said. "We talked about it during the week, and we didn't feel like (LoVecchio) was that much of a run threat. ... He had a hell of a game, and we didn't expect him to do what he did with his feet, that's for sure."

LoVecchio finished the game with 36 rushing yards on 14 carries and 161 passing yards (17 of 24) to Illini quarterback Dustin Ward's 163 passing yards.

And the Illini finish their weekend looking ahead to only one more opportunity after this week's bye — the Nov. 22 game against Northwestern.

Just one more chance to turn sour back to sweet.