1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record3–7 (2–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPEddie Bray
CaptainGame captains
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1942
1944 →
1943 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Purdue + 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 0 – 0
No. 3 Michigan + 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 0
No. 9 Northwestern 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
Indiana 2 – 3 – 1 4 – 4 – 2
Minnesota 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Illinois 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Ohio State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Wisconsin 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
Iowa 0 – 4 – 1 1 – 6 – 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1943 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second season under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 3–7 record and finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Conference.[1] Halfback Eddie Bray was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Illinois ranked 35th among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 89.6.[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11Camp Grant*
L 0–233,500
September 18Iowa Pre-Flight*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 18–328,500[4]
October 2at Purdue
L 21–4015,000
October 9at Wisconsin
W 25–717,000
October 16Pittsburgh*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 33–257,144
October 23at No. 1 Notre Dame*
L 0–4724,676
October 30No. 7 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 6–4215,724
November 6at Iowa
W 19–1011,000
November 13at Ohio State
L 26–2936,331
November 20at No. 9 Northwestern
L 6–5325,000
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

  1. ^ "1943 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  3. ^ Litkenhous, E. E. (December 17, 1943). "Litkenhouse Selects U. S. Grid Leaders". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 18. Retrieved April 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  4. ^ Sec Taylor (September 19, 1943). "Seahawks Win, 32-18". The Des Moines Register. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.


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