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2018 Illinois

4–⁠8 (2–⁠7 Big Ten), coached by Lovie Smith.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 2018, game by game: won vs. Kent State 31–24; won vs. Western Illinois 34–14; lost vs. South Florida 19–25; lost vs. No. 10 Penn State 24–63; won at Rutgers 38–17; lost vs. Purdue 7–46; lost at No. 23 Wisconsin 20–49; lost at Maryland 33–63; won vs. Minnesota 55–31; lost at Nebraska 35–54; lost vs. Iowa 0–63; lost at No. 20 Northwestern 16–24+24−63Won 31–24 vs. Kent State+7Kent StateWon 34–14 vs. Western Illinois+20Western IllinoisLost 19–25 vs. South Florida-6South FloridaLost 24–63 vs. No. 10 Penn State-39No. 10 Penn StateWon 38–17 at Rutgers+21RutgersLost 7–46 vs. Purdue-39PurdueLost 20–49 at No. 23 Wisconsin-29No. 23 WisconsinLost 33–63 at Maryland-30MarylandWon 55–31 vs. Minnesota+24MinnesotaLost 35–54 at Nebraska-19NebraskaLost 0–63 vs. Iowa-63IowaLost 16–24 at No. 20 Northwestern-8No. 20 Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsKent StateW 31–⁠2464%
Sep 8vsWestern IllinoisW 34–⁠1458%
Sep 15vsSouth FloridaL 19–⁠2522%
Sep 21vs10Penn StateL 24–⁠6318%
Oct 6atRutgersW 38–⁠1749%
Oct 13vsPurdueL 7–⁠4641%
Oct 20at23WisconsinL 20–⁠4912%
Oct 27atMarylandL 33–⁠6330%
Nov 3vsMinnesotaW 55–⁠3144%
Nov 10atNebraskaL 35–⁠5438%
Nov 17vsIowaL 0–⁠6325%
Nov 24at20NorthwesternL 16–⁠2413%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 24–⁠16; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 12th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 121st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
4–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠7 tied for 12th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
312–⁠473
Coach
Lovie Smith
Elo
1362 −15 this season
SP+ rating
-7.9 No. 97 of 130; offense No. 69, defense No. 115, special teams No. 12
SRS
−7.8 No. 97 of 130 in FBS
Returning
76% of last season’s EPA, No. 37 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 54 roster talent No. 58 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Rod Smith
Defensive coordinator
Hardy Nickerson
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense78th of 130
  • Defense126th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted68th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted130th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0845%1.1578th of 130
Defense0.2950%1.33126th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.26 def		45% off
50% def		—68th off
130th 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
Offense3.1own 3019% allowed
Defense4.3own 2916% caused

CORE rating -12.6, 110th of 130 (offense 4.7, defense 17.3).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsA.J. Bush QB1,413 yds
Passing touchdownsA.J. Bush QB6 TD
Rushing yardsReggie Corbin RB1,085 yds
Rushing touchdownsReggie Corbin RB9 TD
Receiving yardsRicky Smalling WR406 yds
Receiving touchdownsRicky Smalling WR5 TD
TacklesDel’Shawn Phillips LB95 tkl
SacksBobby Roundtree DL8.5 sacks
InterceptionsDel’Shawn Phillips LB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Calvin Avery DT★★★★No. 216
Verdis Brown OC★★★★No. 343
Reuben Unije OT★★★No. 452
Coran Taylor DUAL★★★No. 870
Khalan Tolson OLB★★★No. 933

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

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks42.80.821
Running backs23.00.821
Receivers33.00.834
Offensive line53.20.866
Defensive line23.50.879
Linebackers22.50.823
Defensive backs53.00.821
Athletes and specialists23.00.816
Whole class253.00.836

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 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 7Nick Allegretti CKansas City Chiefs

Roster 101

The 2018 roster

101 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 72 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠113–⁠13
Michigan8–⁠110–⁠314
Northwestern8–⁠19–⁠521
Penn State6–⁠39–⁠417
Iowa5–⁠49–⁠425
Wisconsin5–⁠48–⁠5
Michigan State5–⁠47–⁠6
Purdue5–⁠46–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠67–⁠6
Maryland3–⁠65–⁠7
Nebraska3–⁠64–⁠8
Indiana2–⁠75–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠74–⁠8
Rutgers0–⁠91–⁠11

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