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Illinois vs. Iowa

Illinois and Iowa have 79 meetings on file, the first in 1899; Illinois leads the series 39–⁠38–⁠2 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Iowa 9–⁠1.

Scheduled 2028 at Iowa. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

Illinois wins
39
Iowa wins
38
Ties
2
Earliest on file
1899
Longest streak
12 Illinois
Current streak
1 Iowa
Last 10 meetings
Iowa 9–⁠1
Most recent
2023

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1890s0–⁠1
1900s4–⁠2
1910s2–⁠0
1920s5–⁠3–⁠1
1930s0–⁠1–⁠1
1940s8–⁠2
1950s3–⁠0
1960s1–⁠2
1970s4–⁠4
1980s5–⁠3
1990s4–⁠6
2000s2–⁠5
2010s0–⁠6
2020s1–⁠3
Both ranked
3 meetings: Illinois 1, Iowa 2
Average margin
18.7 points; 22 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Illinois
21–⁠16 Illinois’s record at home
At Iowa
22–⁠18–⁠2 Iowa’s record at home
Shutouts
21

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Illinois’s biggest win1902: Illinois 80, Iowa 0by 80 points
  2. Iowa’s biggest win2018: Iowa 63, Illinois 0by 63 points
  3. Upset1923: Illinois 9, Iowa 6Illinois had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1990: Iowa 54, Illinois 28Iowa had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1935: Iowa 19, Illinois 0Iowa had a 32% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  6. Ranked showdown1990: Iowa 54, Illinois 28No. 13 Iowa at No. 5 Illinois
  7. Ranked showdown1942: Illinois 12, Iowa 7No. 5 Illinois at No. 19 Iowa
  8. Ranked showdown1991: Iowa 24, Illinois 21No. 13 Illinois at No. 15 Iowa

Coach against coach

YearsIllinoisSeriesIowa
1918–⁠1923Robert Zuppke4–⁠2Howard Jones
1924–⁠1929Robert Zuppke3–⁠1–⁠1Burton Ingwersen
1942–⁠1949Ray Eliot5–⁠0Edward Anderson
1967–⁠1970James Valek1–⁠3Ray Nagel
1971–⁠1973Bob Blackman2–⁠1Frank Lauterbur
1974–⁠1976Bob Blackman2–⁠1Bob Commings
1980–⁠1986Mike White4–⁠3Hayden Fry
1989–⁠1991John Mackovic1–⁠2Hayden Fry
1992–⁠1996Lou Tepper3–⁠2Hayden Fry
1999–⁠2004Ron Turner2–⁠2Kirk Ferentz
2005–⁠2008Ron Zook1–⁠3Kirk Ferentz
2016–⁠2020Lovie Smith0–⁠5Kirk Ferentz
2021–⁠2023Bret Bielema1–⁠2Kirk Ferentz

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Illinois’s side (Zuppke 4–⁠2 against Jones). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Illinois and Iowa, 1899 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Jordan Canzeri Iowa43 carries, 256 yards, 1 TD2015 Rushing
A.J. Epenesa Iowa8 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3.5 for loss, 1 TD2018 Defense

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

From the newspapers

  • The Evening times-Republican's story of the 1899 game: eT.-R. BULLE TIN. NOTICEABLE NEWS OF TODAY. Tie Weather. For Iowa-Fair tonight and satur- day. For Illinois-Fair tonight and Sat llrdav ENflts

    1899 · Evening times-Republican, Marshalltown, Iowa, Dec 1, 1899

  • The Omaha daily bee's story of the 1902 game: IOWA FAIRLY OVERWHELMED Illinois Piles Up a Score of Eighty to Nothing for the HRwkeyes.

    1902 · Omaha daily bee, Nebraska, Nov 28, 1902

  • The Bisbee daily review's story of the 1903 game: THE FOOTBALL SCORES MADE ON VARIOUS GRIDIR0NS YESTERDAY

    1903 · Bisbee daily review, Nov 22, 1903

  • The The Cairo bulletin's story of the 1904 game: Yale Now UnquestionabIy Holds the Football Championship For 1904 $4,000 SAW THE GAME FOR THE BOYS I'M BLUE ILLINOIS WINS EASILY FROM IOWA.

    1904 · The Cairo bulletin, Cairo, Ill., Nov 20, 1904

  • The Decorah public opinion's story of the 1907 game: Jewell Helps Iowa Defeat Illinois.

    1907 · Decorah public opinion, Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa], Nov 13, 1907

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Photos

From the rivalry’s and its games’ categories on Wikimedia Commons (free licenses only, each credited).

Every game

Nov 21, 2026Iowa at Illinois upcomingat Illinois
Nov 18, 2023Iowa 15, Illinois 13at Iowa
Oct 8, 2022Illinois 9, Iowa 6at Illinois
Nov 20, 202118Iowa 33, Illinois 23at Iowa
Dec 5, 202024Iowa 35, Illinois 21at Illinois
Nov 23, 201919Iowa 19, Illinois 10at Iowa
Nov 17, 2018Iowa 63, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 7, 2017Iowa 45, Illinois 16at Iowa
Nov 19, 2016Iowa 28, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 10, 201522Iowa 29, Illinois 20at Iowa
Nov 15, 2014Iowa 30, Illinois 14at Illinois
Nov 1, 2008Illinois 27, Iowa 24at Illinois
Oct 13, 2007Iowa 10, 18Illinois 6at Iowa
Sep 23, 200614Iowa 24, Illinois 7at Illinois
Oct 1, 2005Iowa 35, Illinois 7at Iowa
Oct 30, 200423Iowa 23, Illinois 13at Illinois
Nov 1, 200313Iowa 41, Illinois 10at Iowa
Oct 14, 2000Illinois 31, Iowa 0at Illinois
Nov 6, 1999Illinois 40, Iowa 24at Iowa
Sep 26, 1998Iowa 37, Illinois 14at Illinois
Sep 27, 199711Iowa 38, Illinois 10at Iowa
Nov 2, 199625Iowa 31, Illinois 21at Illinois
Nov 4, 1995Illinois 26, Iowa 7at Iowa
Oct 15, 1994Illinois 47, Iowa 7at Illinois
Oct 16, 1993Illinois 49, Iowa 3at Iowa
Oct 17, 1992Iowa 24, Illinois 14at Illinois
Oct 19, 199115Iowa 24, 13Illinois 21at Iowa
Nov 3, 199013Iowa 54, 5Illinois 28at Illinois
Nov 4, 19898Illinois 31, Iowa 7at Iowa
Nov 8, 1986Illinois 20, 16Iowa 16at Illinois
Nov 9, 19856Iowa 59, Illinois 0at Iowa
Sep 29, 1984Iowa 21, Illinois 16at Iowa
Oct 1, 1983Illinois 33, 4Iowa 0at Illinois
Oct 30, 1982Iowa 14, Illinois 13at Iowa
Oct 31, 1981Illinois 24, 16Iowa 7at Illinois
Oct 11, 1980Illinois 20, Iowa 14at Iowa
Oct 6, 1979Iowa 13, Illinois 7at Illinois
Sep 11, 1976Illinois 24, Iowa 6at Illinois
Sep 13, 1975Illinois 27, Iowa 12at Iowa
Oct 26, 1974Iowa 14, Illinois 12at Iowa
Oct 27, 1973Illinois 50, Iowa 0at Illinois
Nov 25, 1972Iowa 15, Illinois 14at Iowa
Nov 20, 1971Illinois 31, Iowa 0at Illinois
Nov 21, 1970Iowa 22, Illinois 16at Iowa
Nov 22, 1969Iowa 40, Illinois 0at Illinois
Nov 23, 1968Iowa 37, Illinois 13at Illinois
Nov 25, 1967Illinois 21, Iowa 19at Iowa
Nov 8, 1952Illinois 33, Iowa 13at Iowa
Nov 10, 19512Illinois 40, Iowa 13at Illinois
Nov 11, 195010Illinois 21, Iowa 7at Iowa
Oct 8, 1949Illinois 20, Iowa 14at Iowa
Nov 6, 1948Illinois 14, Iowa 0at Illinois
Oct 4, 1947Illinois 35, Iowa 12at Iowa
Nov 2, 194611Illinois 7, Iowa 0at Iowa
Nov 10, 1945Illinois 48, Iowa 7at Illinois
Oct 14, 194414Illinois 40, Iowa 6at Illinois
Nov 6, 1943Illinois 19, Iowa 10at Iowa
Oct 17, 19425Illinois 12, 19Iowa 7at Iowa
Nov 8, 1941Iowa 21, Illinois 0at Illinois
Nov 23, 1940Iowa 18, Illinois 7at Iowa
Oct 17, 1936Iowa 0, Illinois 0at Iowa
Oct 26, 1935Iowa 19, Illinois 0at Illinois
Oct 20, 1929Iowa 7, Illinois 7at Iowa
Nov 5, 1927Illinois 14, Iowa 0at Iowa
Oct 16, 1926Illinois 13, Iowa 6at Illinois
Oct 17, 1925Iowa 12, Illinois 10at Iowa
Nov 1, 1924Illinois 36, Iowa 0at Illinois
Oct 20, 1923Illinois 9, Iowa 6at Iowa
Oct 21, 1922Iowa 8, Illinois 7at Illinois
Oct 15, 1921Iowa 14, Illinois 2at Iowa
Oct 16, 1920Illinois 20, Iowa 3at Illinois
Oct 18, 1919Illinois 9, Iowa 7at Illinois
Nov 2, 1918Illinois 19, Iowa 0at Iowa
Nov 7, 1908Illinois 22, Iowa 0at Illinois
Nov 9, 1907Iowa 25, Illinois 12at Iowa
Nov 19, 1904Illinois 29, Iowa 0at Illinois
Nov 21, 1903Iowa 12, Illinois 0at Iowa
Nov 27, 1902Illinois 80, Iowa 0at Illinois
Nov 9, 1901Illinois 27, Iowa 0at Iowa
Nov 30, 1899Iowa 58, Illinois 0at Iowa

Every game is listed as played on the field.