CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1964 Illinois

6–⁠3 (4–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Pete Elliott.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1964, game by game: won at California 20–14; won at Northwestern 17–6; lost vs. No. 4 Ohio State 0–26; won at Minnesota 14–0; won vs. UCLA 26–7; lost at Purdue 14–26; lost at Michigan 6–21; won vs. Wisconsin 29–0; won vs. Michigan State 16–0+29−26Won 20–14 at California+6CaliforniaWon 17–6 at Northwestern+11NorthwesternLost 0–26 vs. No. 4 Ohio State-26No. 4 Ohio StateWon 14–0 at Minnesota+14MinnesotaWon 26–7 vs. UCLA+19UCLALost 14–26 at Purdue-12PurdueLost 6–21 at Michigan-15MichiganWon 29–0 vs. Wisconsin+29WisconsinWon 16–0 vs. Michigan State+16Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26atCaliforniaW 20–⁠1456%
Oct 3atNorthwesternW 17–⁠644%
Oct 10vs4Ohio StateL 0–⁠2662%
Oct 17atMinnesotaW 14–⁠048%
Oct 24vsUCLAW 26–⁠776%
Oct 31atPurdueL 14–⁠2647%
Nov 7atMichiganL 6–⁠2140%
Nov 14vsWisconsinW 29–⁠073%
Nov 21vsMichigan StateW 16–⁠057%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan State 16–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 2

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 1964.

Heisman voteDick Butkus, third

Consensus All-AmericanDick Butkus, C

Record
6–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 2
Points
142–⁠100
Coach
Pete Elliott
Elo
1616 +40 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.5 No. 12 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Dick Butkus and George Donnelly
Most valuable player
Dick Butkus

Drafted in 1965

The 1965 draft
Rd 1Dick Butkus LBChicago Bears
Rd 1George Donnelly BSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 2Archie Sutton OTMinnesota Vikings

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Bill MinorLBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1964 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1964 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠19–⁠14
Ohio State5–⁠17–⁠29
Purdue5–⁠26–⁠3
Illinois4–⁠36–⁠3
Minnesota4–⁠35–⁠4
Michigan State3–⁠34–⁠5
Wisconsin2–⁠53–⁠6
Northwestern2–⁠53–⁠6
Iowa1–⁠53–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7

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