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1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

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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
Captains
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 1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1982 Big Ten season. In their third year under head coach Mike White, the Illini compiled a 7–4 record (6–3 in conference games), finished in fourth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 323 to 208. They concluded the season with a loss to Alabama in the 1982 Liberty Bowl, which was Hall of Famer Bear Bryant's final game as Alabama's head coach.[1]

Quarterback Tony Eason led the Big Ten with 278 completions, 450 passes, 3,248 passing yards, and 17 touchdowns. Wide receiver Mike Martin led the conference with 69 receptions and 941 receiving yards. Kicker Mike Bass was the Big Ten in scoring with 101 points and 23 field goals made. Running back Dwight Beverly led the team with 390 rushing yards, an average of 5.3 yards per carry.[2] Eason was selected as the team's most valuable player.[3] Eason, Martin, and Bass won first-team honors on the 1982 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[4][5]

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

Schedule

[edit]
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 4Northwestern
W 49–1367,036[6]
September 11Michigan State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 23–1666,152[7]
September 18at Syracuse*
W 47–1030,128[8]
September 25No. 3 Pittsburgh*No. 19
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 3–2071,547[9]
October 2at No. 19 Minnesota
W 42–2463,684[10]
October 9PurdueNo. 20
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 38–3471,232[11]
October 16Ohio StateNo. 15
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (Illibuck)
L 21–2673,488[12]
October 23at Wisconsin
W 29–2878,406[13]
October 30at Iowa
L 13–1459,922[14]
November 6No. 15 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 10–1675,256[15][16]
November 13at Indiana
W 48–738,471[17]
December 29vs. Alabama*
L 15–2154,123[18]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

[edit]
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 Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1982 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  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 Mooshil (November 30, 1982). "Carter, Bostic, Lukens Top All-Big Ten Football Team". The Blade, Toledo, Ohio (AP story). p. 26.
  5. ^ Barry Minkoff (November 23, 1982). "Michigan dominates All-Big Ten squads". The Bryan Times (UPI story). p. 13.
  6. ^ "Illinois bombards Northwestern". The Post-Crescent. September 5, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Illinois wins; official dies". The Pantagraph. September 12, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "SU thumped, 47–10". The Sunday Press. September 19, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Pitt intercepts Illini hopes, 20–3". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 26, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Illini comeback clips Minnesota". Wisconsin State Journal. October 3, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Eason's heroics stop Purdue as Illini pull out 38–34 win". The Courier-Journal. October 10, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "OSU wins as Spangler finally hits". The Akron Beacon Journal. October 17, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Bass boots Badgers". The Reporter. October 24, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Iowa nips Illini 14–13". Fort Myers News-Press. October 31, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Joe Lapointe (November 7, 1982). "U-M survives by stopping last Illinois try". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1D, 9D – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "Illinois vents frustrations on stunned Hoosiers, 48–7". Journal and Courier. November 14, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Bryant goes out a winner". Chicago Tribune. December 30, 1982. Retrieved February 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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