CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1981 Illinois

7–⁠4 (6–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Mike White.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1981, game by game: lost at No. 8 Pittsburgh 6–26; won at Michigan State 27–17; won vs. Syracuse 17–14; won vs. Minnesota 38–29; lost at Purdue 20–44; lost at Ohio State 27–34; won vs. Wisconsin 23–21; won vs. No. 16 Iowa 24–7; lost at No. 12 Michigan 21–70; won vs. Indiana 35–14; won at Northwestern 49–12+37−49Lost 6–26 at No. 8 Pittsburgh-20No. 8 PittsburghWon 27–17 at Michigan State+10Michigan StateWon 17–14 vs. Syracuse+3SyracuseWon 38–29 vs. Minnesota+9MinnesotaLost 20–44 at Purdue-24PurdueLost 27–34 at Ohio State-7Ohio StateWon 23–21 vs. Wisconsin+2WisconsinWon 24–7 vs. No. 16 Iowa+17No. 16 IowaLost 21–70 at No. 12 Michigan-49No. 12 MichiganWon 35–14 vs. Indiana+21IndianaWon 49–12 at Northwestern+37Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5at8PittsburghL 6–⁠2612%
Sep 12atMichigan StateW 27–⁠1736%
Sep 19vsSyracuseW 17–⁠1452%
Oct 3vsMinnesotaW 38–⁠2950%
Oct 10atPurdueL 20–⁠4428%
Oct 17atOhio StateL 27–⁠3424%
Oct 24vsWisconsinW 23–⁠2150%
Oct 31vs16IowaW 24–⁠745%
Nov 7at12MichiganL 21–⁠7017%
Nov 14vsIndianaW 35–⁠1471%
Nov 21atNorthwesternW 49–⁠1281%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 49–⁠12; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 65th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

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 1981.

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
287–⁠288
Coach
Mike White
Elo
1511 +96 this season
SP+ rating
5.4 No. 54 of 132; offense No. 18, defense No. 107
SRS
5.1 No. 46 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Greg Boeke, Ron Ferrari and Jack Squirek
Most valuable player
Tony Eason and Kelvin Atkins

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 2Jack Squirek LBLos Angeles Raiders
Rd 7Ron Ferrari LBSan Francisco 49ers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Oliver WilliamsWRAP-2
  • Mike CarringtonOGAP-2
  • Mark ButkusDLAP-2
  • Jack SquirekLBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1981 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1981 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠29–⁠315
Iowa6–⁠28–⁠418
Michigan6–⁠39–⁠312
Illinois6–⁠37–⁠4
Wisconsin6–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠56–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠55–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠90–⁠11

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