1970 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1970 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1970 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth and final year under head coach Jim Valek, the Illini compiled a 3–7 record and finished in a tie for last place in the Big Ten Conference.[1]

1970 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record3–7 (1–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPDoug Dieken
CaptainKirk McMillin, Doug Dieken
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Ohio State $ 7 0 0 9 1 0
No. 9 Michigan 6 1 0 9 1 0
Northwestern 6 1 0 6 4 0
Iowa 3 3 1 3 6 1
Wisconsin 3 4 0 4 5 1
Michigan State 3 4 0 4 6 0
Minnesota 2 4 1 3 6 1
Purdue 2 5 0 4 6 0
Illinois 1 6 0 3 7 0
Indiana 1 6 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mike Wells with 906 passing yards, running back Darrell Robinson with 749 rushing yards, and wide receiver Doug Dieken with 537 receiving yards.[2] Dieken was selected for the second consecutive year as the team's most valuable player.[3]

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 19Oregon*W 20–1633,246[4]
September 26Tulane*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 9–2327,864[5]
October 3Syracuse*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 27–039,357
October 10at NorthwesternL 0–4833,316
October 17Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 24–3042,079–42,708[6]
October 24No. 1 Ohio State
L 29–4846,208
October 31at PurdueW 23–2167,747
November 7at No. 5 MichiganL 0–4270,781[7]
November 14Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 17–2936,569
November 21at IowaL 16–2238,700
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

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1970 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
G 82 Doug Dieken Sr
OT 54 Larry McCarren So
QB 12 Mike Wells So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 52 Larry Allen So
S 29 Steve Allen Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries

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Oregon

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1 234Total
Oregon 0 709 16
• Illinois 0 1073 20

[8]

References

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  1. ^ "1970 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "1970 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. ^ Cawood, Neil (September 20, 1970). "Underdog Illinois hands Oregon 20-16 loss". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
  5. ^ "Tulane steals five passes, stings Wells, Illinois, 23–9". Herald and Review. September 27, 1970. Retrieved October 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Indiana Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF). Indiana University. p. 14. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  7. ^ Curt Sylvester (November 8, 1970). "U-M Rocks Outclassed Illini, 42-0". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1970 Sep 20. Retrieved 2018-Nov-04.