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1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1989
team	Illinois Fighting Illini
sport	football
conference	Big Ten Conference
short_conf	Big Ten
CoachRank	10
APRank	10
record	10–2
conf_record	7–1
head_coach	John Mackovic
hc_year	2nd
off_coach	Gene Dahlquist
oc_year	2nd
def_coach	Lou Tepper
dc_year	2nd
mvp	Mike Bellamy
mvp2	Moe Gardner
captain	Craig Schneider
captain2	Steve Glasson
captain3	Mike Bellamy
captain4	Moe Gardner
stadium	Memorial Stadium
champion	Florida Citrus Bowl champion
bowl	[Florida Citrus Bowl](1990-florida-citrus-bowl)
bowl_result	W 31–21 vs. [Virginia](1989-virginia-cavaliers-football-team)

The 1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second year under head coach John Mackovic, the Fighting Illini compiled a 10–2 record (7–1 in conference games), finished in second place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 301 to 161. Illinois concluded its season in the 1990 Florida Citrus Bowl, defeating Virginia by a 31–21 score. They were ranked No. 10 in the final AP and UPI polls.

Quarterback Jeff George led the Big Ten with 216 completions, 348 pass attempts, 2,417 passing yards, and 19 passing touchdowns. George won the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the best quarterback in college football. The team's other statistical leaders included fullback Howard Griffith (654 rushing yards, 66 points scored) and wide receiver Mike Bellamy (51 receptions for 761 yards).

Nine Illinois players received first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) or United Press International (UPI) on the 1989 All-Big Ten Conference football team: George at quarterback (AP-1, UPI-1); Bellamy at wide receiver (AP-2, UPI-1); center Curt Lovelace (AP-1); defensive linemen Mel Agee (AP-1, UPI-1) and Moe Gardner (AP-1, UPI-1); linebacker Darrick Brownlow (AP-1, UPI-1): and defensive backs Henry Jones (AP-1, UPI-1) and Marlon Primous (AP-2, UPI-1).

Schedule

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Rankings

Main article: 1989 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Game summaries

Ohio State

;First quarter

ILL – Howard Griffith 1-yard run (Doug Higgins kick), 1:01. ''Illinois 7–0. '''Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, 1:59.''''' ;Second quarter
OSU – Carlos Snow 7-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 13:31. ''Tie 7–7. '''Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards, 2:30.'''''
ILL – Doug Higgins 26-yard field goal, 9:07. ''Illinois 10–7. '''Drive: 11 plays, 49 yards, 4:24.''''' ;Third quarter
ILL – Howard Griffith 5-yard run (Chris Siambekos kick), 8:57. ''Illinois 17–7. '''Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards, 3:49.'''''
OSU – Jeff Graham 66-yard punt return (Pat O'Morrow kick), 4:22. Illinois 17–14.
ILL – Mike Bellamy 34-yard pass from Steve Williams (Chris Siambekos kick), 3:30. ''Illinois 24–14. '''Drive: 3 plays, 60 yards, 0:52.''''' ;Fourth quarter
ILL – Chris Siambekos 36-yard field goal, 14:49. ''Illinois 27–14. '''Drive: 7 plays, 11 yards, 2:26.'''''
ILL – Ken Thomas 36-yard run (Chris Siambekos kick), 3:27. ''Illinois 34–14. '''Drive: 10 plays, 99 yards, 4:17.''''' ;Top passers
OSU – Greg Frey – 13/25, 137 yards, INT
ILL – Jeff George – 12/20, 130 yards, 2 INT ;Top rushers
OSU – Carlos Snow – 21 rushes, 97 yards, TD
ILL – Howard Griffith – 20 rushes, 117 yards, 2 TD ;Top receivers
OSU – Jeff Graham – 5 receptions, 71 yards
ILL – Mike Bellamy – 10 receptions, 152 yards, TD

At Purdue

Jeff George made his first appearance at Purdue since transferring following the 1986 season

Florida Citrus Bowl (vs. Virginia)

Main article: 1990 Florida Citrus Bowl

Roster

Awards and honors

Jeff George, Sammy Baugh Trophy

1990 NFL draft

References

"1989 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC.
"1989 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". Sports Reference LLC.
(November 30, 1989). "Indiana's Thompson heads All-Big Ten team". The Daily Reporter (AP story).
(November 30, 1989). "UPI All-Big Ten team". Detroit Free Press.
(September 5, 1989). "Illinois rally jolts Southern California". The Courier-News.
(September 17, 1989). "Colorado hopes to climb after scaling Illinois". The Tennessean.
(September 24, 1989). "Illini have it their way with Aggies". Quad-City Times.
(October 8, 1989). "Illini pass-and-catch whips Buckeyes, 34–14". Sunday Herald-Times.
(October 15, 1989). "Positive Akers pleased with his Boilermakers". The Kokomo Tribune.
(October 22, 1989). "Spartan's fumble sets up Illini victory". The Saginaw News.
(October 29, 1989). "Illinois remains on top". Star Tribune.
(November 5, 1989). "Illini get well-rounded effort in win over Iowa". The Pantagraph.
(November 12, 1989). "Victory puts Michigan in driver's seat". Wisconsin State Journal.
(November 19, 1989). "By George, IU whipped". The Republic.
(November 26, 1989). "Illini roar into Citrus Bowl bid". Herald and Review.
(January 2, 1990). "Illinois just too strong for Virginia in 31–21 win". St. Petersburg Times.
Slater, Jim. (October 14, 1989). "Illinois 14, Purdue 2".
Tatlock, David. (October 16, 1989). "Purdue Defense Shines in Loss".
Youmans, Matt. (October 16, 1989). "Boiler Defense Goes to Waste as Illinois Wins".
"Awards".
"1990 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com".

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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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