Illinois Fighting Illini football

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Illinois Fighting Illini football
2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
Illinois Block I.png
First season 1890
Athletic director Paul Kowalczyk (interim)
Head coach Bill Cubit
1st year, 5–7 (.417)
Stadium Memorial Stadium
Seating capacity 60,670
Field surface FieldTurf
Location Champaign, Illinois
Conference Big Ten
Division West
All-time record 592–559–51 (.514)
Bowl record 8–10 (.444)
Claimed nat'l titles 5
Conference titles 15
Consensus All-Americans 24
Colors Orange and Blue           
Fight song Illinois Loyalty and Oskee Wow Wow
Marching band Marching Illini
Major Rivals Northwestern Wildcats
Missouri Tigers
Purdue Boilermakers
Indiana Hoosiers
Ohio State Buckeyes

The Illinois Fighting Illini are a college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference.

Current staff

Name Position Consecutive season at
Illinois in current position
Bill Cubit Head Coach 1st
Ryan Cubit Offensive Coordinator/Recruiting coordinator 1st
Mike Phair Defensive Coordinator 2nd
Mike Bellamy Wide Receivers Coach 3rd
Jeff Hecklinski Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends 1st
A.J. Ricker Offensive line coach 1st
Nathan Scheelhaase Running backs coach 1st
Al Seamonson Outside Linebackers Coach 3rd
Reference:[1]

Head coaches

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See also: List of Illinois Fighting Illini head football coaches

All-time win/loss/tie record

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See also: Year-by-year Fighting Illini football records
  • 592–559-51[2]

Head-to-head Big Ten records

Team Total Meetings Overall Record
Indiana 70 45–23–2
Iowa 71 38–31–2
Maryland 0 0–0
Michigan 94 23–69–2
Michigan State 45 17–26–2
Minnesota 68 29–36–3
Nebraska 12 3–8–1
Northwestern 109 55–49–5
Ohio State 101 30–68–3
Penn State 23 5–18
Purdue 91 44–41–6
Rutgers 2 1–1
Wisconsin 82 36–39–7

National championships

The University of Illinois has five national championships in football: 1914, 1919, 1923, 1927, and 1951. The Fighting Illini now officially recognize the 1951 National Championship by the Boand selecting body,[3] but as recently as 2006 this was not mentioned officially by the school.[4]

Year Coach Selector Record Bowl Game
1914 Bob Zuppke Parke H. Davis 7-0-0
1919 Bob Zuppke Billingsley, Boand, Football Research, Parke H. Davis 6-1-0
1923 Bob Zuppke Boand, Football Research, Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis 8-0-0
1927 Bob Zuppke Billingsley, Dickinson, Helms, National Championship Foundation, Parke H. Davis 7-0-1
1951 Ray Eliot Boand 9-0-1 Won Rose Bowl
National Championships 5

Big Ten championships

Year Coach Big Ten Record Overall Record Bowl Game
1910 Arthur Hall 4-0-0 7-0-0
1914 Bob Zuppke 6-0-0 7-0-0
1915 Bob Zuppke 3-0-2 5-0-2
1918 Bob Zuppke 4-0-0 5-2-0
1919 Bob Zuppke 6-1-0 6-1-0
1923 Bob Zuppke 5-0-0 8-0-0
1927 Bob Zuppke 5-0-0 7-0-1
1928 Bob Zuppke 4-1-0 7-1-0
1946 Ray Eliot 6-1-0 8-2-0 Won Rose Bowl
1951 Ray Eliot 5-0-1 9-0-1 Won Rose Bowl
1953 Ray Eliot 5-1-0 7-1-1
1963 Pete Elliott 5-1-1 8-1-1 Won Rose Bowl
1983 Mike White 9-0-0 10-2-0 Lost Rose Bowl
1990 John Mackovic 6-2-0 8-4-0 Lost Hall of Fame Bowl
2001 Ron Turner 7-1 10-2 Lost Sugar Bowl
15-time Big Ten Champions

Bowl games

Date Bowl W/L Opponent PF PA
January 1, 1947 Rose Bowl W UCLA 45 14
January 1, 1952 Rose Bowl W Stanford 40 7
January 1, 1964 Rose Bowl W Washington 17 7
December 29, 1982 Liberty Bowl L Alabama 15 21
January 2, 1984 Rose Bowl L UCLA 9 45
December 31, 1985 Peach Bowl L Army 29 31
December 29, 1988 All-American Bowl L Florida 10 14
January 1, 1990 Florida Citrus Bowl W Virginia 31 21
January 1, 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl L Clemson 0 30
December 31, 1991 John Hancock Bowl L UCLA 3 6
December 30, 1992 Holiday Bowl L Hawai'i 17 27
December 31, 1994 Liberty Bowl W East Carolina 30 0
December 30, 1999 MicronPC.com Bowl W Virginia 63 21
January 1, 2002 Sugar Bowl L LSU 34 47
January 1, 2008 Rose Bowl L USC 17 49
December 29, 2010 Texas Bowl W Baylor 38 14
December 31, 2011 Fight Hunger Bowl W UCLA 20 14
December 26, 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl L Louisiana Tech 18 35
Total 18 Bowl Games 8-10 436 403

Rivalries

All-time statistical leaders

Career leaders

Season leaders

Game leaders

Recruiting

Illinois Fighting Illini Football Scout.com team recruiting rankings:

Class

Scout.com

Rank

Commits

Top Commit

2015

 34 25 Gabe Megginson

2014

 71 18 Jihad Ward

2013

 42 25 Aaron Bailey

2012

 68 18 T.J. Neal

2011

 40 27 Jon Davis

2010

 57 22 Chandler Whitmer

2009

 35 22 Andrew Carter

2008

 19 28 Corey Liuget

2007

 20 21 Arrelious Benn

2006

 28 27 Isiah Williams

2005

 45 19 Rashard Mendenhall

2004

 44 24 Xavier Fulton

2003

 31 28 Kelvin Hayden

2002

 47 22 James McGill

Individual honors

Dick Butkus - 1964
Jim Grabowski - 1965
Jeff George - 1989
Dana Howard - 1994
Kevin Hardy - 1995
Whitney Mercilus - 2011
  • CFPA National Defensive Performer of the Year
Whitney Mercilus - 2011
  • CFPA Running Back Trophy
Mikel Leshoure - 2010
Buddy Young - 1944... 5th
Bill Burrell - 1959... 4th
Dick Butkus - 1964... 3rd
Jim Grabowski - 1965... 3rd
George Halas - 1919
Buddy Young - 1946
Julius Rykovich - 1946
Bill Tate - 1951
Jim Grabowski - 1964
Red Grange - 1924
Alex Agase - 1946
Bill Burrell - 1959
Dick Butkus - 1963
Jim Grabowski - 1965
Don Thorp - 1983
Rashard Mendenhall - 2007
Moe Gardner - 1990
Darrick Brownlow - 1990
Dana Howard - 1993 & 1994
Simeon Rice - 1992
Arrelious Benn - 2007
Moe Gardner - 1989
Simeon Rice - 1994
Mike White - 1983
Ron Zook - 2007
Mike White - 1983
John Mackovic - 1988 & 1989
Ron Turner - 2001
Ron Zook - 2007

Retired numbers

Illinois Fighting Illini retired numbers
No. Player Position Career
50 Dick Butkus LB 1962-64
77 Red Grange [5] HB 1923-25

Consensus All-Americans

A Bristow Adams poster of an Illini football player
1904 NCAA football guide featuring Illini Football. The guide was the official rules book and record book of college football

College Football Hall of Famers

Pro Football Hall of Famers

[7]

Current NFL players

Fighting Illini Currently in the NFL[8]
Name Position Height Weight (lbs.) Hometown Draft Year Pick (Round) Pro-Bowls Super Bowls Current NFL Team
Jeff Allen Guard 6'4" 315 Chicago, IL 2012 44 (2nd Round) 0 0 Kansas City Chiefs
Jon Asamoah Offensive guard 6'4" 305 Matteson, IL 2010 68 (3rd Round) 0 0 Atlanta Falcons
Alan Ball Cornerback 6'2" 191 Detroit, MI 2007 237 (7th Round) 0 0 Chicago Bears
Michael Buchanan Outside linebacker 6'5" 250 Homewood, IL 2013 226 (7th Round) 0 0 New England Patriots
Jeff Cumberland Tight end 6'4" 260 Columbus, OH 2010 Undrafted 0 0 New York Jets
Vontae Davis Cornerback 5'11" 215 Washington, D.C. 2009 25 (1st Round) 1 (2014) 0 Indianapolis Colts
Glenn Foster Defensive end 6'4" 285 Chicago, IL 2013 Undrafted 0 0
Michael Hoomanawanui Tightend 6'4" 265 Bloomington, IL 2010 132 (5th Round) 0 0 New England Patriots
A. J. Jenkins Wide receiver 6'0" 192 Jacksonville, FL 2012 30 (1st Round) 0 0 Dallas Cowboys
Corey Liuget Defensive end 6'2" 300 Miami, FL 2011 18 (1st Round) 0 0 San Diego Chargers
Whitney Mercilus Outside linebacker 6'4" 252 Akron, OH 2012 26 (1st Round) 0 0 Houston Texans
Jay Prosch Fullback 6'1" 254 Mobile, AL 2014 211 (6th Round) 0 0 Houston Texans
Akeem Spence Defensive tackle 6'1" 307 Fort Walton Beach, FL 2013 100 (4th Round) 0 0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Pierre Thomas Running back 5'11" 215 Chicago, IL 2007 Undrafted 0 1 (XLIV) New Orleans Saints
Hugh Thornton Offensive Guard 5'11" 215 Oberlin, OH 2013 86 (3rd Round) 0 0 Indianapolis Colts
Steve Weatherford Punter 6'3" 215 Crown Point, IN 2006 Undrafted 0 1 (XLVI) New York Giants
Tavon Wilson Safety 6'0" 210 Washington, D.C. 2012 48 (2nd Round) 0 1 ( XLIX) New England Patriots

Other Notable Current Players: Arrelious Benn Justin Staples

Fighting Illini in the NFL/AFL
NFL Draft Selections
Top 5 Draft Picks 8
1st round: 23
Total Currently Playing: 18
Total NFL Players: 237[9]
Notable Achievements
Illini in the Super Bowl: 35
Pro Football Hall of Famers: 6
College Football Hall of Famers: 15

Other notable players

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See also: Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football players

Media

Illini football games are shown via the Illini Sports Network, which brings the Illini to stations across Illinois. Locally, the team's games are shown on WDWS-AM 1400 and WHMS-FM 97.5. WDWS has been the Illini's exclusive radio station in Champaign since 1935. WHMS has aired Illini games since the 1950s. The team's student newspaper is the Daily Illini, while outside coverage is handled by The News-Gazette.

Future non-conference opponents

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
vs Murray State vs Ball State vs Kent State at Connecticut vs Connecticut at Virginia vs Virginia at Kansas vs Kansas at Duke vs Duke
vs Western Michigan vs Western Kentucky vs Western Illinois vs Eastern Michigan vs Florida Atlantic
vs North Carolina at South Florida vs South Florida

[10]

References

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ Annual Team Records
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Harold E. "Red" Grange biography
  6. ↑ College Football Hall of Famers
  7. ↑ Pro Football Hall of Famers
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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