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2002 Illinois

5–⁠7 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Ron Turner.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2002, game by game: lost vs. Missouri 20–33; lost at Southern Miss 20–23; won vs. Arkansas State 59–7; lost vs. San José State 35–38; lost vs. No. 14 Michigan 28–45; lost at Minnesota 10–31; won vs. Purdue 38–31; won vs. Indiana 45–14; lost at No. 20 Penn State 7–18; won at Wisconsin 37–20; lost vs. No. 2 Ohio State 16–23; won at Northwestern 31–24+52−21Lost 20–33 vs. Missouri-13MissouriLost 20–23 at Southern Miss-3Southern MissWon 59–7 vs. Arkansas State+52Arkansas StateLost 35–38 vs. San José State-3San José StateLost 28–45 vs. No. 14 Michigan-17No. 14 MichiganLost 10–31 at Minnesota-21MinnesotaWon 38–31 vs. Purdue+7PurdueWon 45–14 vs. Indiana+31IndianaLost 7–18 at No. 20 Penn State-11No. 20 Penn StateWon 37–20 at Wisconsin+17WisconsinLost 16–23 vs. No. 2 Ohio State-7No. 2 Ohio StateWon 31–24 at Northwestern+7Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsMissouriL 20–⁠3374%
Sep 7atSouthern MissL 20–⁠2344%
Sep 14vsArkansas StateW 59–⁠787%
Sep 21vsSan José StateL 35–⁠3878%
Sep 28vs14MichiganL 28–⁠4545%
Oct 3atMinnesotaL 10–⁠3140%
Oct 12vsPurdueW 38–⁠3154%
Oct 26vsIndianaW 45–⁠1464%
Nov 2at20Penn StateL 7–⁠1836%
Nov 9atWisconsinW 37–⁠2037%
Nov 16vs2Ohio StateL 16–⁠2333%
Nov 23atNorthwesternW 31–⁠2467%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 31–⁠24; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 48th-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 2002.

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
346–⁠307
Coach
Ron Turner
Elo
1559 −54 this season
SP+ rating
6.2 No. 51 of 117; offense No. 47, defense No. 51
SRS
3.5 No. 52 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 42
Defensive coordinator
Mike Cassity
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Darnell Ray CB★★★No. 670
Anthony Longe CB★★★No. 670
Andrew Burk DT★★★No. 670
Mike Trepina TE★★★No. 670
Scott Moss DT★★★No. 670

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.800
Running backs12.00.767
Receivers13.00.800
Offensive line42.30.775
Defensive line32.70.789
Defensive backs32.70.789
Whole class132.50.785

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 2Eugene Wilson DBNew England Patriots
Rd 4Brandon Lloyd WRSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5David Diehl OTNew York Giants
Rd 5Tony Pashos OTBaltimore Ravens
Rd 7Walter Young WRCarolina Panthers

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2002 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2002 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠014–⁠01
Iowa8–⁠011–⁠28
Michigan6–⁠210–⁠39
Penn State5–⁠39–⁠416
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠45–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠58–⁠5
Wisconsin2–⁠68–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠64–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠73–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠9

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