CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Illinois

5–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Ron Zook.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2008, game by game: lost vs. No. 6 Missouri 42–52; won vs. Eastern Illinois 47–21; won vs. Louisiana 20–17; lost at No. 12 Penn State 24–38; won at Michigan 45–20; lost vs. Minnesota 20–27; won vs. Indiana 55–13; lost at Wisconsin 17–27; won vs. Iowa 27–24; lost vs. Western Michigan 17–23; lost vs. No. 10 Ohio State 20–30; lost at Northwestern 10–27+42−17Lost 42–52 vs. No. 6 Missouri-10No. 6 MissouriWon 47–21 vs. Eastern Illinois+26Eastern IllinoisWon 20–17 vs. Louisiana+3LouisianaLost 24–38 at No. 12 Penn State-14No. 12 Penn StateWon 45–20 at Michigan+25MichiganLost 20–27 vs. Minnesota-7MinnesotaWon 55–13 vs. Indiana+42IndianaLost 17–27 at Wisconsin-10WisconsinWon 27–24 vs. Iowa+3IowaLost 17–23 vs. Western Michigan-6Western MichiganLost 20–30 vs. No. 10 Ohio State-10No. 10 Ohio StateLost 10–27 at Northwestern-17Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vs6MissouriL 42–⁠5236%
Sep 6vsEastern IllinoisW 47–⁠2180%
Sep 13vsLouisianaW 20–⁠1779%
Sep 27at12Penn StateL 24–⁠3828%
Oct 4atMichiganW 45–⁠2035%
Oct 11vsMinnesotaL 20–⁠2766%
Oct 18vsIndianaW 55–⁠1377%
Oct 25atWisconsinL 17–⁠2744%
Nov 1vsIowaW 27–⁠2455%
Nov 8vsWestern MichiganL 17–⁠2354%
Nov 15vs10Ohio StateL 20–⁠3029%
Nov 22atNorthwesternL 10–⁠2737%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 27–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 66th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 24
  3. Wk 3: 24
  4. Wk 4: 22
  5. Wk 5: 22
Record
5–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
344–⁠319
Coach
Ron Zook
Elo
1508 −46 this season
SP+ rating
8.9 No. 34 of 120; offense No. 29, defense No. 54, special teams No. 73
SRS
1.8 No. 52 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 22
Offensive coordinator
Mike Locksley
Defensive coordinators
Dan Disch and Curt Mallory
Captains
Arrelious Benn, David Lindquist, Brit Miller and Juice Williams
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense29th of 120
  • Defense52nd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted32nd of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted47th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0744%0.9629th of 120
Defense0.0241%0.9052nd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.02 def		44% off
39% def		—32nd off
47th def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 282% allowed
Defense-0.2own 332% 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 2008 class

Corey Liuget DT★★★★No. 119
Patrick Nixon-Youman CB★★★★No. 202
Graham Pocic OT★★★★No. 241
Hubie Graham TE★★★★No. 254
Cordale Scott WR★★★★No. 279
A.J. Jenkins WR★★★★No. 329

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.878
Receivers53.60.874
Offensive line53.20.849
Defensive line33.00.862
Linebackers13.00.850
Defensive backs14.00.918
Whole class163.30.865

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 2009

The 2009 draft
Rd 1Vontae Davis CBMiami Dolphins
Rd 5Xavier Fulton OTTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 6Will Davis DEArizona Cardinals

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠39
Michigan State6–⁠29–⁠424
Northwestern5–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠420
Wisconsin3–⁠57–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠55–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Michigan2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠9

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