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1990 Illinois

8–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by John Mackovic, finished No. 25 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1990, game by game: lost at Arizona 16–28; won vs. No. 9 Colorado 23–22; won vs. Southern Illinois 56–21; won at No. 20 Ohio State 31–20; won vs. Purdue 34–0; won vs. No. 24 Michigan State 15–13; won at Wisconsin 21–3; lost vs. No. 13 Iowa 28–54; lost at No. 19 Michigan 17–22; won at Indiana 24–10; won vs. Northwestern 28–23; lost vs. No. 14 Clemson 0–30+35−30Lost 16–28 at Arizona-12ArizonaWon 23–22 vs. No. 9 Colorado+1No. 9 ColoradoWon 56–21 vs. Southern Illinois+35Southern Illino…Won 31–20 at No. 20 Ohio State+11No. 20 Ohio StateWon 34–0 vs. Purdue+34PurdueWon 15–13 vs. No. 24 Michigan State+2No. 24 Michigan StateWon 21–3 at Wisconsin+18WisconsinLost 28–54 vs. No. 13 Iowa-26No. 13 IowaLost 17–22 at No. 19 Michigan-5No. 19 MichiganWon 24–10 at Indiana+14IndianaWon 28–23 vs. Northwestern+5NorthwesternLost 0–30 vs. No. 14 Clemson-30No. 14 Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8atArizonaL 16–⁠2843%
Sep 15vs9ColoradoW 23–⁠2246%
Sep 22vsSouthern IllinoisW 56–⁠2189%
Oct 6at20Ohio StateW 31–⁠2046%
Oct 13vsPurdueW 34–⁠085%
Oct 20vs24Michigan StateW 15–⁠1360%
Oct 27atWisconsinW 21–⁠382%
Nov 3vs13IowaL 28–⁠5469%
Nov 10at19MichiganL 17–⁠2228%
Nov 17atIndianaW 24–⁠1050%
Nov 24vsNorthwesternW 28–⁠2390%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs14ClemsonHall of Fame BowlL 0–⁠3036%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 30–⁠0 in the Hall of Fame Bowl; No. 25 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 21
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 14
  6. Wk 6: 13
  7. Wk 7: 11
  8. Wk 8: 8
  9. Wk 9: 5
  10. Wk 10: 5
  11. Wk 11: 17
  12. Wk 12: 22
  13. Wk 13: 22
  14. Wk 14: 16
  15. Wk 15: 16
  16. Final: 25

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 1990.

Big Ten champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State

Consensus All-AmericanMoe Gardner, DT

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 25 peak No. 5
Points
293–⁠246
Coach
John Mackovic
Elo
1595 −4 this season
SP+ rating
10.1 No. 33 of 104; offense No. 54, defense No. 23
SRS
8.4 No. 29 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Gene Dahlquist
Defensive coordinator
Lou Tepper
Captains
Curtis Lovelace, Howard Griffith, Moe Gardner and Darrick Brownlow
Most valuable player
Howard Griffith

Drafted in 1991

The 1991 draft
Rd 1Henry Jones DBBuffalo Bills
Rd 4Moe Gardner DTAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Darrick Brownlow LBDallas Cowboys
Rd 6Mel Agee DTIndianapolis Colts
Rd 7Chris Green DBMiami Dolphins

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jason VerduzcoQBAP-2
  • Howard GriffithRBCoaches-2
  • Tim SimpsonOGAP-2; Coaches-2
  • Henry JonesDBCoaches-2
  • Marlon PrimousDBCoaches-2
  • Doug HigginsKCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1990 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1990 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠37
Michigan State6–⁠28–⁠3–⁠116
Iowa6–⁠28–⁠418
Illinois6–⁠28–⁠425
Ohio State5–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠4–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Northwestern1–⁠72–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠72–⁠9
Wisconsin0–⁠81–⁠10

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