1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
American college football season
The 1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1982 Big Ten Conference football season . In their third year under head coach Mike White , the Illini compiled a 7–4 record, finished in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference , and lost to Alabama in the 1982 Liberty Bowl , which was Hall of Famer Bear Bryant 's final game as Alabama's head coach.[ 1]
The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Tony Eason with 3,248 passing yards, running back Dwight Beverly with 390 rushing yards, and wide receiver Mike Martin with 941 receiving yards.[ 2] Eason was selected as the team's most valuable player.[ 3]
Schedule
Date Opponent Rank Site Result Attendance Source September 4 Northwestern W 49–1367,036
September 11 Michigan State Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL W 23–1666,152
September 18 at Syracuse * W 47–1030,128
September 25 No. 3 Pittsburgh * No. 19 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL L 3–2071,547
October 2 at No. 19 Minnesota W 42–2463,684
October 9 Purdue No. 20 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry ) W 38–3471,232
October 16 Ohio State No. 15 L 21–2673,488
October 23 at Wisconsin W 29–2878,406
October 30 at Iowa L 13–1459,922
November 6 No. 15 Michigan Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry ) L 10–1675,256 [ 4] [ 5]
November 13 at Indiana W 48–738,471
vs. Alabama * L 15–2154,123 [ 6]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Roster
1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
References
^ "1982 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015 .
^ "1982 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015 .
^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF) . University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 29, 2016 .
^ Joe Lapointe (November 7, 1982). "U-M survives by stopping last Illinois try" . Detroit Free Press . pp. 1D, 9D – via Newspapers.com .
^ Ron Pollack (November 7, 1982). "Michigan downs Illinois, 16-10: Blue halts late Illini drive before record-setting crowd" . The Michigan Daily . pp. 1, 8 – via Bentley Historical Library .
^ "Bryant goes out a winner" . Chicago Tribune . December 30, 1982. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
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