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2009 Illinois

3–⁠9 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Ron Zook.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2009, game by game: lost vs. Missouri 9–37; won vs. Illinois State 45–17; lost at No. 13 Ohio State 0–30; lost vs. No. 15 Penn State 17–35; lost vs. Michigan State 14–24; lost at Indiana 14–27; lost at Purdue 14–24; won vs. Michigan 38–13; won at Minnesota 35–32; lost vs. Northwestern 16–21; lost at No. 5 Cincinnati 36–49; lost vs. Fresno State 52–53+28−30Lost 9–37 vs. Missouri-28MissouriWon 45–17 vs. Illinois State+28Illinois StateLost 0–30 at No. 13 Ohio State-30No. 13 Ohio StateLost 17–35 vs. No. 15 Penn State-18No. 15 Penn StateLost 14–24 vs. Michigan State-10Michigan StateLost 14–27 at Indiana-13IndianaLost 14–24 at Purdue-10PurdueWon 38–13 vs. Michigan+25MichiganWon 35–32 at Minnesota+3MinnesotaLost 16–21 vs. Northwestern-5NorthwesternLost 36–49 at No. 5 Cincinnati-13No. 5 CincinnatiLost 52–53 vs. Fresno State-1Fresno State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsMissouriL 9–⁠3734%
Sep 12vsIllinois StateW 45–⁠1785%
Sep 26at13Ohio StateL 0–⁠3020%
Oct 3vs15Penn StateL 17–⁠3533%
Oct 10vsMichigan StateL 14–⁠2445%
Oct 17atIndianaL 14–⁠2746%
Oct 24atPurdueL 14–⁠2437%
Oct 31vsMichiganW 38–⁠1341%
Nov 7atMinnesotaW 35–⁠3232%
Nov 14vsNorthwesternL 16–⁠2147%
Nov 27at5CincinnatiL 36–⁠4911%
Dec 5vsFresno StateL 52–⁠5341%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Fresno State 53–⁠52; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 103rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
3–⁠9
Conference
2–⁠6 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
290–⁠362
Coach
Ron Zook
Elo
1433 −73 this season
SP+ rating
-5.7 No. 84 of 120; offense No. 60, defense No. 90, special teams No. 87
SRS
−4.9 No. 83 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 28
Offensive coordinator
Mike Schultz
Defensive coordinators
Dan Disch and Curt Mallory
Captains
Jon Asamoah, Arrelious Benn, Doug Pilcher and Ian Thomas
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense36th of 120
  • Defense111th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted37th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted120th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0742%0.8936th of 120
Defense0.1345%1.01111th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.10 def		42% off
43% def		—37th off
120th 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
Offense0.0own 292% allowed
Defense0.0own 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsJuice Williams QB1,632 yds
Passing touchdownsJuice Williams QB12 TD
Rushing yardsMikel Leshoure RB734 yds
Rushing touchdownsMikel Leshoure RB5 TD
Receiving yardsArrelious Benn WR490 yds
Receiving touchdownsChris Duvalt WR3 TD
InterceptionsDoug Pilcher DL1 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Terry Hawthorne WR★★★★No. 72
Justin Green CB★★★★No. 164
Nathan Scheelhaase DUAL★★★★No. 227
Lendell Buckner DT★★★★No. 237
Bud Golden RB★★★★No. 247
Andrew Carter OG★★★★No. 353

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.911
Running backs23.50.881
Receivers33.30.880
Offensive line23.50.857
Defensive line23.00.838
Defensive backs33.30.865
Athletes and specialists22.00.778
Whole class153.20.857

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 2Arrelious Benn WRTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 3Jon Asamoah OGKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5Mike Hoomanawanui TESt. Louis Rams

Roster 100

The 2009 roster

100 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

1 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠25
Iowa6–⁠211–⁠27
Penn State6–⁠211–⁠29
Wisconsin5–⁠310–⁠316
Northwestern5–⁠38–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠7
Purdue4–⁠45–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠63–⁠9
Michigan1–⁠75–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠8

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