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1953 Illinois

7–⁠1–⁠1 (5–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Ray Eliot, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1953, game by game: tied vs. Nebraska 21–21; won vs. Stanford 33–21; won at No. 3 Ohio State 41–20; won vs. Minnesota 27–7; won vs. Syracuse 20–13; won vs. Purdue 21–0; won vs. No. 17 Michigan 19–3; lost at Wisconsin 7–34; won at Northwestern 39–14+25−27Tied 21–21 vs. Nebraska0NebraskaWon 33–21 vs. Stanford+12StanfordWon 41–20 at No. 3 Ohio State+21No. 3 Ohio StateWon 27–7 vs. Minnesota+20MinnesotaWon 20–13 vs. Syracuse+7SyracuseWon 21–0 vs. Purdue+21PurdueWon 19–3 vs. No. 17 Michigan+16No. 17 MichiganLost 7–34 at Wisconsin-27WisconsinWon 39–14 at Northwestern+25Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vsNebraskaT 21–⁠2172%
Oct 3vsStanfordW 33–⁠2162%
Oct 10at3Ohio StateW 41–⁠2034%
Oct 17vsMinnesotaW 27–⁠770%
Oct 24vsSyracuseW 20–⁠1365%
Oct 31vsPurdueW 21–⁠074%
Nov 7vs17MichiganW 19–⁠365%
Nov 14atWisconsinL 7–⁠3445%
Nov 21atNorthwesternW 39–⁠1472%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 39–⁠14; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 11th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 9
  2. Wk 5: 7
  3. Wk 6: 4
  4. Wk 7: 4
  5. Wk 8: 3
  6. Wk 9: 7
  7. Wk 10: 6
  8. Final: 7

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1953.

Big Ten champions5–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Michigan State

Led the nationJ.C. Caroline: rushing yards (1,256 yds)

Consensus All-AmericanJ.C. Caroline, RB

Record
7–⁠1–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 3
Points
228–⁠133
Coach
Ray Eliot
Elo
1650 +110 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
19.1 No. 6 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Robert Lenzini
Most valuable player
Don Ernst

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 1Stan Wallace BChicago Bears
Rd 1John Bauer OGCleveland Browns
Rd 2Rocky Ryan EPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Rocky RyanEAP-2
  • Bob LenziniOTUP-2
  • Mickey BatesBAP-2; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State5–⁠19–⁠13
Illinois5–⁠17–⁠1–⁠17
Wisconsin4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠115
Ohio State4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠320
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠19
Minnesota3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠42–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Northwestern0–⁠63–⁠6

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.