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2011 Illinois

7–⁠6 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Ron Zook, then Vic Koenning (interim, bowl game).

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2011, game by game: won vs. Arkansas State 33–15; won vs. South Dakota State 56–3; won vs. No. 22 Arizona State 17–14; won vs. Western Michigan 23–20; won vs. Northwestern 38–35; won at Indiana 41–20; lost vs. Ohio State 7–17; lost at Purdue 14–21; lost at No. 21 Penn State 7–10; lost vs. No. 22 Michigan 14–31; lost vs. No. 15 Wisconsin 17–28; lost at Minnesota 7–27; won vs. UCLA 20–14+53−20Won 33–15 vs. Arkansas State+18Arkansas StateWon 56–3 vs. South Dakota State+53South Dakota St…Won 17–14 vs. No. 22 Arizona State+3No. 22 Arizona StateWon 23–20 vs. Western Michigan+3Western MichiganWon 38–35 vs. Northwestern+3NorthwesternWon 41–20 at Indiana+21IndianaLost 7–17 vs. Ohio State-10Ohio StateLost 14–21 at Purdue-7PurdueLost 7–10 at No. 21 Penn State-3No. 21 Penn StateLost 14–31 vs. No. 22 Michigan-17No. 22 MichiganLost 17–28 vs. No. 15 Wisconsin-11No. 15 WisconsinLost 7–27 at Minnesota-20MinnesotaWon 20–14 vs. UCLA+6UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsArkansas StateW 33–⁠1572%
Sep 10vsSouth Dakota StateW 56–⁠381%
Sep 17vs22Arizona StateW 17–⁠1463%
Sep 24vsWestern MichiganW 23–⁠2070%
Oct 1vsNorthwesternW 38–⁠3569%
Oct 8atIndianaW 41–⁠2071%
Oct 15vsOhio StateL 7–⁠1756%
Oct 22atPurdueL 14–⁠2163%
Oct 29at21Penn StateL 7–⁠1033%
Nov 12vs22MichiganL 14–⁠3153%
Nov 19vs15WisconsinL 17–⁠2832%
Nov 26atMinnesotaL 7–⁠2767%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsUCLAFight Hunger BowlW 20–⁠1451%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UCLA 20–⁠14 in the Fight Hunger Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 10th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 78th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 24
  2. Wk 5: 24
  3. Wk 6: 19
  4. Wk 7: 16
  5. Wk 8: 23

Ted Hendricks AwardWhitney Mercilus, DE

Consensus All-AmericanWhitney Mercilus, DE

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 10th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
294–⁠255
Coach
Ron Zook, then Vic Koenning (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1489 −61 this season
SP+ rating
6.8 No. 44 of 120; offense No. 85, defense No. 13, special teams No. 50
SRS
2.9 No. 49 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 37
Offensive coordinator
Paul Petrino
Defensive coordinator
Vic Koenning
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense82nd of 120
  • Defense18th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted109th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted12th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0240%0.8782nd of 120
Defense-0.0137%0.9818th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.02 off
0.00 def		40% off
37% def		—109th off
12th 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 282% allowed
Defense-0.1own 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 yardsNathan Scheelhaase QB2,110 yds
Passing touchdownsNathan Scheelhaase QB13 TD
Rushing yardsNathan Scheelhaase QB624 yds
Rushing touchdownsJason Ford RB7 TD
Receiving yardsA.J. Jenkins WR1,276 yds
Receiving touchdownsA.J. Jenkins WR8 TD
InterceptionsTerry Hawthorne DB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2011 class

Jon Davis TE★★★★No. 188
Dondi Kirby CB★★★No. 314
Clint Tucker DT★★★No. 434
Darrius Caldwell WDE★★★No. 434
Zeph Grimes S★★★No. 914

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

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.00.831
Receivers43.30.836
Offensive line43.00.827
Defensive line43.00.841
Linebackers23.00.823
Defensive backs42.80.833
Athletes and specialists22.00.790
Whole class222.90.829

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 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 1Whitney Mercilus DEHouston Texans
Rd 1A.J. Jenkins WRSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 2Jeff Allen OGKansas City Chiefs
Rd 2Tavon Wilson SNew England Patriots

Roster 115

The 2011 roster

115 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2011 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2011 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠311
Michigan6–⁠211–⁠212
Wisconsin6–⁠211–⁠310
Penn State6–⁠29–⁠4
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠424
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠6
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠6
Ohio State3–⁠56–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠56–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠67–⁠6
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠81–⁠11

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