1988 Illinois
6–5–1 (5–2–1 Big Ten), coached by John Mackovic. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest upsetBeat No. 20 Indiana 21–20Nov 5
Indiana was ranked No. 20, above it.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3 | vs Washington State | L 7–44 | 59% |
| Sep 10 | at Arizona State | L 16–21 | 21% |
| Sep 17 | vs Utah | W 35–24 | 52% |
| Oct 1 | at Ohio State | W 31–12 | 20% |
| Oct 8 | vs Purdue | W 20–0 | 62% |
| Oct 15 | at Wisconsin | W 34–6 | 63% |
| Oct 22 | vs Michigan State | L 21–28 | 54% |
| Oct 29 | at Minnesota | T 27–27 | 49% |
| Nov 5 | vs 20Indiana | W 21–20 | 38% |
| Nov 12 | at 13Michigan | L 9–38 | 19% |
| Nov 19 | vs Northwestern | W 14–9 | 74% |
| Dec 29Bowls & playoff | vs FloridaAll-American Bowl | L 10–14 | 44% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Florida 14–10 in the All-American Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 80th-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 1988.
- Record
- 6–5–1
- Conference
- 5–2–1 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 245–243
- Coach
- John Mackovic
- Elo
- 1484 +42 this season
- SP+ rating
- -0.3 No. 57 of 102; offense No. 71, defense No. 37
- SRS
- 1.1 No. 52 of 105 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Offensive coordinator
- Gene Dahlquist
- Defensive coordinator
- Lou Tepper
- Captains
- Glenn Cobb and Mark McGowan
- Most valuable player
- Keith Jones
Drafted in 1989
The 1989 draft| Rd 3 | Keith Jones RB | Atlanta Falcons |
All-Big Ten
3 first team, 6 second teamFirst team
Morris GardnerDLAP-1; UPI-1- Darrick BrownlowLBAP-1; UPI-2
- Glenn CobbDBAP-1; UPI-1
Second team
- Jeff GeorgeQBAP-2
- Keith JonesRBAP-2; UPI-2
- Mark McGowanOTAP-2; UPI-2
- Steven WilliamsWRAP-2; UPI-2
- Mel AgeeDLAP-2; UPI-2
- Marlon PrimousDBUPI-2
From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1988 Big Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 7–0–1 | 9–2–1 | 4 |
| Michigan State | 6–1–1 | 6–5–1 | |
| Illinois | 5–2–1 | 6–5–1 | |
 Iowa | 4–1–3 | 6–4–3 | |
| Indiana | 5–3 | 8–3–1 | 20 |
| Purdue | 3–5 | 4–7 | |
| Ohio State | 2–5–1 | 4–6–1 | |
| Northwestern | 2–5–1 | 2–8–1 | |
| Wisconsin | 1–7 | 1–10 | |
| Minnesota | 0–6–2 | 2–7–2 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.