1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

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]

1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Liberty Bowl, L 15–21 vs. Alabama
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record7–5 (6–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPTony Eason
CaptainMike Bass, Dan Gregus, Mike Martin
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1981
1983 →
1982 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Michigan $ 8 1 0 8 4 0
No. 12 Ohio State 7 1 0 9 3 0
Iowa 6 2 0 8 4 0
Illinois 6 3 0 7 5 0
Wisconsin 5 4 0 7 5 0
Indiana 4 5 0 5 6 0
Purdue 3 6 0 3 8 0
Northwestern 2 7 0 3 8 0
Michigan State 2 7 0 2 9 0
Minnesota 1 8 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

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

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 4NorthwesternW 49–1367,036
September 11Michigan State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 23–1666,152
September 18at Syracuse*W 47–1030,128
September 25No. 3 Pittsburgh*No. 19
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 3–2071,547
October 2at No. 19 MinnesotaW 42–2463,684
October 9PurdueNo. 20
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 38–3471,232
October 16Ohio StateNo. 15
L 21–2673,488
October 23at WisconsinW 29–2878,406
October 30at IowaL 13–1459,922
November 6No. 15 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 10–1675,256[4][5]
November 13at IndianaW 48–738,471
December 29vs. Alabama*L 15–2154,123[6]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

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1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 3 Tony Eason Sr
C 55 Adam Lingner Sr
RB 42 Thomas Rooks Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

References

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  1. ^ "1982 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "1982 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. ^ Joe Lapointe (November 7, 1982). "U-M survives by stopping last Illinois try". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1D, 9D – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Bryant goes out a winner". Chicago Tribune. December 30, 1982. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.