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1983 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1983
team	Illinois Fighting Illini
sport	football
conference	Big Ten Conference
short_conf	Big Ten
CoachRank	10
APRank	10
record	10–2
conf_record	9–0
head_coach	Mike White
hc_year	4th
captain	Tim Brewster
captain2	Joe Miles
captain3	Don Thorp
stadium	Memorial Stadium
champion	Big Ten champion
bowl	[Rose Bowl](1984-rose-bowl)
bowl_result	L 9–45 vs. [UCLA](1983-ucla-bruins-football-team)

The 1983 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the Big Ten football season. In their fourth year under head coach Mike White, the Fighting Illini compiled a 10–2 record (9–0 in conference games), won the Big Ten championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 338 to 168. Illinois represented the Big Ten in the 1984 Rose Bowl, losing to UCLA by a 45–9 score. The Illini were ranked No. 4 in the AP poll at the end of the regular season, but dropped to No. 10 in the final poll after losing the Rose Bowl.

Quarterback Jack Trudeau led the Big Ten with 203 complete passes, a 62.7% completion percentage, and 2,446 passing yards. The team's other statistical leaders included running back Thomas Rooks (842 rushing yards), wide receiver David Williams (59 receptions for 870 yards), and kicker Chris White (78 points, 39 of 40 extra points, 13 of 22 field goals).

Defensive end Don Thorp was selected as the team's most valuable player and also received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference.

The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Schedule

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Awards and honors

Don Thorp (defensive end)
- Chicago Tribune Silver Football (Big Ten MVP)
- All-American, (defensive end)
Jim Juriga, (tackle)
- All-American, (tackle)
Craig Swoope, (defensive back)
- All-American, (defensive back)

Seven Illinois players received first-team honors on the 1983 All-Big Ten Conference football team: running back Dwight Beverly (AP-1, UPI-1); guard Jim Juriga (AP-1, UPI-1); tackle Chris Babyar (AP-1, UPI-1); defensive linemen Mark Butkus (AP-1, UPI-1) and Don Thorp (AP-1, UPI-1); defensive back Craig Swoope (AP-1, UPI-1); and kicker Chris White (AP-2, UPI-1).

References

"1983 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
"1983 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
(2015). "Fighting Illini Football Record Book". University of Illinois.
(September 11, 1983). "Bad start wrecks Illinois". The Rock Island Argus.
(September 18, 1983). "Illinois discovers running game in victory". The Pantagraph.
(September 25, 1983). "Spartans lose 1st; Illinois ends MSU streak". The Times Herald.
(October 2, 1983). "Illini pay back Hawks with shutout". The Dispatch.
(October 9, 1983). "Mistakes critical for Wisconsin". The La Crosse Tribune.
(October 16, 1983). "Late Illinois march sinks Buckeyes, 17–13". The Des Moines Register.
(October 23, 1983). "Illini top Purdue, eye Michigan". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Joe Lapointe. (October 30, 1983). "Illinois on the road to Roses after dominating U-M, 16-6". Detroit Free Press.
(November 6, 1983). "Illini explode after scare". Chicago Tribune.
(November 13, 1983). "Illinois officially wraps up Rose Bowl bid". The Belleville News-Democrat.
(November 20, 1983). "Illinois brushes aside NU". Chicago Tribune.
(January 3, 1984). "Neuheisel leads UCLA past stunned Illini 45–9". USA Today.
DeLassus, David. "Illinois Yearly Results: 1980–1984". [[College Football Data Warehouse]].
(December 1, 1983). "Hawkeyes represented well on AP all-Big 10 football teams". The Daily Reporter.
Barry Minkoff. (November 22, 1983). "All-Big Ten". The Bryan Times (UPI story).

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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