1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach John Mackovic, the Illini compiled a 6–5–1 record, finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference, and lost to Florida in the 1988 All-American Bowl.[1]

1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football
All-American Bowl, L 10–14 vs. Florida
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record6–5–1 (5–2–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGene Dahlquist (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorLou Tepper (1st season)
MVPKeith Jones
CaptainGlenn Cobb, Mark McGowan
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1987
1989 →
1988 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Michigan $ 7 0 1 9 2 1
Michigan State 6 1 1 6 5 1
Illinois 5 2 1 6 5 1
Iowa 4 1 3 6 4 3
No. 20 Indiana 5 3 0 8 3 1
Purdue 3 5 0 4 7 0
Ohio State 2 5 1 4 6 1
Northwestern 2 5 1 2 8 1
Wisconsin 1 7 0 1 10 0
Minnesota 0 6 2 2 7 2
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Jeff George with 2,257 passing yards, running back Keith Jones with 1,108 rushing yards, and Steve Williams with 523 receiving yards.[2]

Schedule

edit
DateOpponentSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 3Washington State*L 7–4454,458
September 10at Arizona State*L 16–2170,091
September 17Utah*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 35–2454,002
October 1at Ohio StateW 31–1290,274
October 8Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 20–063,473
October 15at WisconsinW 34–657,886
October 22Michigan State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 21–2865,771
October 29at MinnesotaT 27–2740,554
November 5No. 20 Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 21–2066,201
November 12at No. 13 MichiganL 9–38105,714
November 19Northwestern
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 14–943,329
December 29vs. Florida*ESPNL 10–1448,218[3]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

edit
1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 2 Mike Bellamy Jr
QB 11 Jeff George So
RB 29 Howard Griffith So
TE 82 Frank Hartley So
RB 36 Keith Jones Sr
C 53 Tim Scully So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 96 Mel Agee So
LB 48 Darrick Brownlow So
DT 95 Moe Gardner So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Roster

References

edit
  1. ^ "1988 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "1988 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. ^ "Smith's TDs lift Gators". Birmingham Post-Herald. December 30, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.