CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1982 Illinois

7–⁠5 (6–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Mike White.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1982, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 49–13; won vs. Michigan State 23–16; won at Syracuse 47–10; lost vs. No. 3 Pittsburgh 3–20; won at No. 19 Minnesota 42–24; won vs. Purdue 38–34; lost vs. Ohio State 21–26; won at Wisconsin 29–28; lost at Iowa 13–14; lost vs. No. 15 Michigan 10–16; won at Indiana 48–7; lost vs. Alabama 15–21+41−17Won 49–13 vs. Northwestern+36NorthwesternWon 23–16 vs. Michigan State+7Michigan StateWon 47–10 at Syracuse+37SyracuseLost 3–20 vs. No. 3 Pittsburgh-17No. 3 PittsburghWon 42–24 at No. 19 Minnesota+18No. 19 MinnesotaWon 38–34 vs. Purdue+4PurdueLost 21–26 vs. Ohio State-5Ohio StateWon 29–28 at Wisconsin+1WisconsinLost 13–14 at Iowa-1IowaLost 10–16 vs. No. 15 Michigan-6No. 15 MichiganWon 48–7 at Indiana+41IndianaLost 15–21 vs. Alabama-6Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsNorthwesternW 49–⁠1383%
Sep 11vsMichigan StateW 23–⁠1662%
Sep 18atSyracuseW 47–⁠1043%
Sep 25vs3PittsburghL 3–⁠2038%
Oct 2at19MinnesotaW 42–⁠2441%
Oct 9vsPurdueW 38–⁠3480%
Oct 16vsOhio StateL 21–⁠2663%
Oct 23atWisconsinW 29–⁠2846%
Oct 30atIowaL 13–⁠1450%
Nov 6vs15MichiganL 10–⁠1641%
Nov 13atIndianaW 48–⁠760%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsAlabamaLiberty BowlL 15–⁠2139%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 21–⁠15 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 44th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 19
  2. Wk 6: 20
  3. Wk 7: 15

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 1982.

Led the nationMike Martin: receptions (69 catches)

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠3 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 15
Points
338–⁠229
Coach
Mike White
Elo
1572 +65 this season
SP+ rating
11.6 No. 31 of 109; offense No. 26, defense No. 49
SRS
13.9 No. 23 of 113 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Mike Bass, Dan Gregus and Mike Martin
Most valuable player
Tony Eason

Drafted in 1983

The 1983 draft
Rd 1Tony Eason QBNew England Patriots
Rd 6Mike Bass KNew England Patriots

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Dan GregusDLAP-2
  • Charles ArmsteadDBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Craig SwoopeDBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1982 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1982 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠18–⁠4
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠312
Iowa6–⁠28–⁠4
Illinois6–⁠37–⁠5
Wisconsin5–⁠47–⁠5
Indiana4–⁠55–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern2–⁠73–⁠8
Michigan State2–⁠72–⁠9
Minnesota1–⁠83–⁠8

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