CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2004 Illinois

3–⁠8 (1–⁠7 Big Ten), coached by Ron Turner.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2004, game by game: won vs. Florida A&M 52–13; lost vs. UCLA 17–35; won vs. Western Michigan 30–27; lost vs. No. 15 Purdue 30–38; lost at No. 20 Wisconsin 7–24; lost at Michigan State 25–38; lost vs. No. 14 Michigan 19–30; lost at Minnesota 0–45; lost vs. No. 23 Iowa 13–23; won vs. Indiana 26–22; lost at Northwestern 21–28+39−45Won 52–13 vs. Florida A&M+39Florida A&MLost 17–35 vs. UCLA-18UCLAWon 30–27 vs. Western Michigan+3Western MichiganLost 30–38 vs. No. 15 Purdue-8No. 15 PurdueLost 7–24 at No. 20 Wisconsin-17No. 20 WisconsinLost 25–38 at Michigan State-13Michigan StateLost 19–30 vs. No. 14 Michigan-11No. 14 MichiganLost 0–45 at Minnesota-45MinnesotaLost 13–23 vs. No. 23 Iowa-10No. 23 IowaWon 26–22 vs. Indiana+4IndianaLost 21–28 at Northwestern-7Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsFlorida A&MW 52–⁠1371%
Sep 11vsUCLAL 17–⁠3547%
Sep 18vsWestern MichiganW 30–⁠2751%
Sep 25vs15PurdueL 30–⁠3826%
Oct 2at20WisconsinL 7–⁠2418%
Oct 9atMichigan StateL 25–⁠3826%
Oct 16vs14MichiganL 19–⁠3016%
Oct 23atMinnesotaL 0–⁠4515%
Oct 30vs23IowaL 13–⁠2319%
Nov 6vsIndianaW 26–⁠2250%
Nov 20atNorthwesternL 21–⁠2823%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 28–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 10th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 123rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
1–⁠7 tied for 10th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
240–⁠323
Coach
Ron Turner
Elo
1345 −46 this season
SP+ rating
-11.3 No. 93 of 120; offense No. 91, defense No. 79
SRS
−6.9 No. 82 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 57
Offensive coordinator
Dan Roushar
Defensive coordinator
Mike Mallory
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense48th of 118
  • Defense93rd of 118
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0438%0.9248th of 118
Defense0.0440%0.9793rd of 118
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 313% allowed
Defense0.0own 272% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2004 class

Billy Garza DUAL★★No. 979
Derek Walker SDE★★No. 979
Charles Bailey Jr S★★No. 979
Jody Ellis WR★★No. 979
Jason Reda K★★No. 979

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

The 2004 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.00.767
Receivers32.00.767
Offensive line32.00.767
Defensive line32.00.767
Linebackers12.00.767
Defensive backs42.00.767
Athletes and specialists22.00.767
Whole class182.00.767

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 2005

The 2005 draft
Rd 2Kelvin Hayden DBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 4Duke Preston CBuffalo Bills

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2004 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2004 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa7–⁠110–⁠28
Michigan7–⁠19–⁠314
Wisconsin6–⁠29–⁠317
Northwestern5–⁠36–⁠6
Ohio State4–⁠48–⁠420
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠45–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠57–⁠5
Penn State2–⁠64–⁠7
Illinois1–⁠73–⁠8
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠8

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