1966 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1966 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1966 Big Ten Conference football season. In their seventh year under head coach Pete Elliott, the Illini compiled a 4–6 record and finished in a tie for third place in the Big Ten Conference.[1]

1966 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record4–6 (4–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPRon Guenther
CaptainBo Batchelder, Kai Anderson
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1965
1967 →
1966 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Michigan State $ 7 0 0 9 0 1
No. 7 Purdue 6 1 0 9 2 0
Michigan 4 3 0 6 4 0
Illinois 4 3 0 4 6 0
Minnesota 3 3 1 4 5 1
Ohio State 3 4 0 4 5 0
Northwestern 2 4 1 3 6 1
Wisconsin 2 4 1 3 6 1
Indiana 1 5 1 1 8 1
Iowa 1 6 0 2 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Bob Naponic with 998 passing yards, running back Bill Huston with 420 rushing yards, and John Wright with 831 receiving yards.[2] Guard Ron Guenther was selected as the team's most valuable player.[3]

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 17at SMU*L 7–2628,000
September 24Missouri*L 14–2155,378
October 1No. 1 Michigan State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 10–2657,747
October 8Ohio State
W 10–951,069
October 15at IndianaW 24–1039,339–39,399[4]
October 22Stanford*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 3–656,561
October 29at PurdueL 21–2561,643
November 5at MichiganW 28–2159,322[5]
November 12Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 49–1453,645
November 19at NorthwesternL 7–3537,625
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

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  1. ^ "1966 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "1966 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  4. ^ "Indiana Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF). Indiana University. p. 14. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  5. ^ Jack Saylor (November 6, 1966). "Pete Wins 1st From Bump In 28–21 Upset". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.