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1994 Illinois

7–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Lou Tepper.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1994, game by game: lost vs. Washington State 9–10; won vs. Missouri 42–0; won vs. Northern Illinois 34–10; lost vs. Purdue 16–22; won at No. 17 Ohio State 24–10; won vs. Iowa 47–7; lost vs. No. 11 Michigan 14–19; won at Northwestern 28–7; won at Minnesota 21–17; lost vs. No. 2 Penn State 31–35; lost at Wisconsin 13–19; won vs. East Carolina 30–0+42−6Lost 9–10 vs. Washington State-1Washington StateWon 42–0 vs. Missouri+42MissouriWon 34–10 vs. Northern Illinois+24Northern Illino…Lost 16–22 vs. Purdue-6PurdueWon 24–10 at No. 17 Ohio State+14No. 17 Ohio StateWon 47–7 vs. Iowa+40IowaLost 14–19 vs. No. 11 Michigan-5No. 11 MichiganWon 28–7 at Northwestern+21NorthwesternWon 21–17 at Minnesota+4MinnesotaLost 31–35 vs. No. 2 Penn State-4No. 2 Penn StateLost 13–19 at Wisconsin-6WisconsinWon 30–0 vs. East Carolina+30East Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsWashington StateL 9–⁠1049%
Sep 10vsMissouriW 42–⁠068%
Sep 17vsNorthern IllinoisW 34–⁠1079%
Oct 1vsPurdueL 16–⁠2268%
Oct 8at17Ohio StateW 24–⁠1023%
Oct 15vsIowaW 47–⁠772%
Oct 22vs11MichiganL 14–⁠1942%
Oct 29atNorthwesternW 28–⁠757%
Nov 5atMinnesotaW 21–⁠1765%
Nov 12vs2Penn StateL 31–⁠3532%
Nov 19atWisconsinL 13–⁠1939%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsEast CarolinaLiberty BowlW 30–⁠054%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat East Carolina 30–⁠0 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 22
  3. Wk 6: 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 1994.

Butkus AwardDana Howard, LB

Consensus All-AmericanDana Howard, LB

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 21
Points
309–⁠156
Coach
Lou Tepper
Elo
1600 +95 this season
SP+ rating
21.7 No. 8 of 106; offense No. 42, defense No. 4
SRS
19.5 No. 7 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Greg Landry
Defensive coordinator
Denny Marcin
Captains
Pete Gabrione, John Holecek, Dana Howard and Jon Kerr
Most valuable player
Dana Howard

Drafted in 1995

The 1995 draft
Rd 2Ken Dilger TEIndianapolis Colts
Rd 5John Holecek LBBuffalo Bills
Rd 5Dana Howard LBDallas Cowboys
Rd 7Scott Turner DBWashington Redskins

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1994 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1994 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State8–⁠012–⁠02
Ohio State6–⁠29–⁠414
Michigan5–⁠38–⁠412
Wisconsin4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Illinois4–⁠47–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠45–⁠6
Iowa3–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠5
Purdue2–⁠4–⁠24–⁠5–⁠2
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠7–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠73–⁠8

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