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Illinois vs. Syracuse

Illinois and Syracuse have 12 meetings on file, the first in 1909; officially, Illinois leads 10–⁠1; as played, 10–⁠2 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Illinois 8–⁠2. The NCAA vacated Syracuse’s win (2006); it doesn’t count officially. This page counts every game as it was played.

Official series
Illinois leads 10–⁠1
Illinois wins on file
10
Syracuse wins on file
2
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1909
Longest streak
6 Illinois
Current streak
1 Illinois
Last 10 meetings
Illinois 8–⁠2
Most recent
2007

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s1–⁠0
1910s1–⁠0
1950s3–⁠0
1970s2–⁠1
1980s2–⁠0
2000s1–⁠1
Average margin
15.8 points; 3 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Illinois
5–⁠2 Illinois’s record at home
At Syracuse
0–⁠5 Syracuse’s record at home
Shutouts
2

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Illinois’s biggest win1982: Illinois 47, Syracuse 10by 37 points
  2. Syracuse’s biggest win2006: Syracuse 31, Illinois 21by 10 points
  3. Upset1977: Syracuse 30, Illinois 20Syracuse had a 29% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1978: Illinois 28, Syracuse 14Illinois had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsIllinoisSeriesSyracuse
1951–⁠1954Ray Eliot3–⁠0Ben Schwartzwalder

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Illinois’s side (Eliot 3–⁠0 against Schwartzwalder). 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 Syracuse, 1909 on130015001700192019401960198020002020

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.

From the newspapers

  • The New-York tribune's story of the 1909 game: ILLINOIS THE TICTOR. Syracuse Deciiuely Beaten IN Hard Fought Game.

    1909 · New-York tribune, New York, Nov 21, 1909

  • The The daily Gate City's story of the 1910 game: KEOKUK DOWNED ]. BY HEAVY COUNT Fell by Wayside in Football Game Saturday Afternoon With Bur- Iinston, the Score Being % to o. MICHIGAN IS WINNER Illinois Defeated Syracuse, to o, and Yale and Harvard Tie Iowa is Winner by Big Score. Especial ito The Gate City.l

    1910 · The daily Gate City, Keokuk, Iowa, Nov 20, 1910

  • The Evening star's story of the 1951 game: Standings AP Football Poll Certain to Be Shufed This Week 1erps Due 10 Advance, Along With Others Among Second Five

    1951 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 15, 1951

  • The Evening star's story of the 1953 game: Two New Stars Pace Illinois 10 Victory Over Syracuse, N-13

    1953 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 25, 1953

  • The Evening star's story of the 1954 game: Illinois Finally Wins, Beats Syracuse in Offensive Show, 34-6

    1954 · Evening star, Oct 24, 1954

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.

Every game

Sep 15, 2007Illinois 41, Syracuse 20at Syracuse
Sep 16, 2006Syracuse 31, Illinois 21vacatedat Illinois
Sep 18, 1982Illinois 47, Syracuse 10at Syracuse
Sep 19, 1981Illinois 17, Syracuse 14at Illinois
Sep 30, 1978Illinois 28, Syracuse 14at Syracuse
Oct 1, 1977Syracuse 30, Illinois 20at Illinois
Oct 3, 1970Illinois 27, Syracuse 0at Illinois
Oct 23, 1954Illinois 34, Syracuse 6at Illinois
Oct 24, 19537Illinois 20, Syracuse 13at Illinois
Oct 13, 19517Illinois 41, Syracuse 20at Syracuse
Nov 19, 1910Illinois 3, Syracuse 0at Illinois
Nov 20, 1909Illinois 17, Syracuse 8at Syracuse

Every game is listed as played on the field; a win the NCAA later vacated is marked “vacated”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.