CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 Illinois

1–⁠8–⁠2 (0–⁠6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Gary Moeller.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1978, game by game: tied vs. Northwestern 0–0; lost at No. 4 Michigan 0–31; lost vs. Stanford 10–35; won at Syracuse 28–14; lost at Missouri 3–45; tied vs. Wisconsin 20–20; lost vs. No. 19 Purdue 0–13; lost at Indiana 10–31; lost vs. No. 18 Michigan State 19–59; lost at Ohio State 7–45; lost at Minnesota 6–24+14−42Tied 0–0 vs. Northwestern0NorthwesternLost 0–31 at No. 4 Michigan-31No. 4 MichiganLost 10–35 vs. Stanford-25StanfordWon 28–14 at Syracuse+14SyracuseLost 3–45 at Missouri-42MissouriTied 20–20 vs. Wisconsin0WisconsinLost 0–13 vs. No. 19 Purdue-13No. 19 PurdueLost 10–31 at Indiana-21IndianaLost 19–59 vs. No. 18 Michigan State-40No. 18 Michigan StateLost 7–45 at Ohio State-38Ohio StateLost 6–24 at Minnesota-18Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsNorthwesternT 0–⁠065%
Sep 16at4MichiganL 0–⁠3115%
Sep 23vsStanfordL 10–⁠3533%
Sep 30atSyracuseW 28–⁠1434%
Oct 7atMissouriL 3–⁠4525%
Oct 14vsWisconsinT 20–⁠2041%
Oct 21vs19PurdueL 0–⁠1336%
Oct 28atIndianaL 10–⁠3134%
Nov 4vs18Michigan StateL 19–⁠5925%
Nov 11atOhio StateL 7–⁠4511%
Nov 18atMinnesotaL 6–⁠2426%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Minnesota 24–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 129th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
1–⁠8–⁠2
Conference
0–⁠6–⁠2 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
103–⁠317
Coach
Gary Moeller
Elo
1323 −86 this season
SP+ rating
-15.9 No. 116 of 133; offense No. 120, defense No. 107
SRS
−9.4 No. 105 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
John Sullivan and Randy Taylor
Most valuable player
John Sullivan and Randy Taylor

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 4Derwin Tucker DBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 6John Sullivan LBChicago Bears

All-Big Ten

1 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠25
Michigan State7–⁠18–⁠312
Purdue6–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠113
Ohio State6–⁠27–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠45–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠4–⁠25–⁠4–⁠2
Indiana3–⁠54–⁠7
Iowa2–⁠62–⁠9
Illinois0–⁠6–⁠21–⁠8–⁠2
Northwestern0–⁠8–⁠10–⁠10–⁠1

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