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2007 Illinois

9–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Ron Zook, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2007, game by game: lost vs. Missouri 34–40; won vs. Western Illinois 21–0; won at Syracuse 41–20; won at Indiana 27–14; won vs. No. 21 Penn State 27–20; won vs. No. 5 Wisconsin 31–26; lost at Iowa 6–10; lost vs. No. 24 Michigan 17–27; won vs. Ball State 28–17; won at Minnesota 44–17; won at No. 1 Ohio State 28–21; won vs. Northwestern 41–22; lost vs. No. 8 USC 17–49+27−32Lost 34–40 vs. Missouri-6MissouriWon 21–0 vs. Western Illinois+21Western IllinoisWon 41–20 at Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 27–14 at Indiana+13IndianaWon 27–20 vs. No. 21 Penn State+7No. 21 Penn StateWon 31–26 vs. No. 5 Wisconsin+5No. 5 WisconsinLost 6–10 at Iowa-4IowaLost 17–27 vs. No. 24 Michigan-10No. 24 MichiganWon 28–17 vs. Ball State+11Ball StateWon 44–17 at Minnesota+27MinnesotaWon 28–21 at No. 1 Ohio State+7No. 1 Ohio StateWon 41–22 vs. Northwestern+19NorthwesternLost 17–49 vs. No. 8 USC-32No. 8 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsMissouriL 34–⁠4026%
Sep 8vsWestern IllinoisW 21–⁠062%
Sep 15atSyracuseW 41–⁠2043%
Sep 22atIndianaW 27–⁠1431%
Sep 29vs21Penn StateW 27–⁠2034%
Oct 6vs5WisconsinW 31–⁠2629%
Oct 13atIowaL 6–⁠1046%
Oct 20vs24MichiganL 17–⁠2733%
Oct 27vsBall StateW 28–⁠1755%
Nov 3atMinnesotaW 44–⁠1754%
Nov 10at1Ohio StateW 28–⁠2112%
Nov 17vsNorthwesternW 41–⁠2272%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8USCRose BowlL 17–⁠4923%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to USC 49–⁠17 in the Rose Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 39th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 18
  2. Wk 12: 20
  3. Wk 13: 18
  4. Wk 14: 15
  5. Final: 20

Consensus All-AmericanJ Leman, LB

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 15
Points
362–⁠283
Coach
Ron Zook
Elo
1581 +212 this season
SP+ rating
12.7 No. 32 of 120; offense No. 29, defense No. 50, special teams No. 31
SRS
8.2 No. 29 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 22
Offensive coordinator
Mike Locksley
Defensive coordinators
Dan Disch and Curt Mallory
Captains
J Leman, Rashard Mendenhall, Kevin Mitchell and Martin O’Donnell
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense19th of 119
  • Defense69th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0946%0.9119th of 119
Defense0.0541%1.0469th of 119
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 292% allowed
Defense-0.1own 322% 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 2007 class

Arrelious Benn WR★★★★★No. 12
Martez Wilson WDE★★★★★No. 15
D’Angelo McCray DT★★★★No. 96
Phil Haig PRO★★★No. 608
Marcus Thomas CB★★★No. 768

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

The 2007 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.856
Running backs13.00.811
Receivers15.00.994
Offensive line13.00.830
Defensive line34.00.926
Linebackers13.00.840
Defensive backs32.70.819
Whole class113.40.869

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 2008

The 2008 draft
Rd 1Rashard Mendenhall RBPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2007 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2007 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠25
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠418
Illinois6–⁠29–⁠420
Wisconsin5–⁠39–⁠424
Penn State4–⁠49–⁠4
Iowa4–⁠46–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠58–⁠5
Michigan State3–⁠57–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern3–⁠56–⁠6
Minnesota0–⁠81–⁠11

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