1952 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record4–5 (2–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPAl Brosky
CaptainAl Brosky
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1951
1953 →
1952 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 11 Wisconsin + 4 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
No. 18 Purdue + 4 – 1 – 1 4 – 3 – 2
No. 17 Ohio State 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Michigan 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 1 – 2 4 – 3 – 2
Illinois 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Northwestern 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 6 – 1
Iowa 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Indiana 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1952 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1952 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 11th year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 4–5 record and finished in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big Ten Conference.[1] Halfback Al Brosky was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 27Iowa State*No. 5
W 33–747,702
October 4at No. 8 WisconsinNo. 2
L 6–2052,071
October 11Washington*No. 13
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 48–1448,248
October 18at MinnesotaNo. 17
L 7–1354,787
October 25Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 12–4071,119
November 1at No. 15 Michigan
W 22–1365,595
November 8at Iowa
W 33–1344,855
November 15Ohio State
L 7–2760,077
November 22Northwestern
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 26–2841,214
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Games summaries

Iowa

Following the win at Iowa, which was full of penalties and a couple of ejections for fighting, Iowa students began to throw fruit, cans, and bottles at the officials and Illinois' team as they left the field. One Iowa student was also punched by an Illinois player in the melee. Illinois and Iowa were not scheduled to play in 1953 and 1954, but their athletic directors decided to expand that timeline to 1958 in order to allow for a "cooling-off" period. That time frame was eventually extended until 1967, which created a 14-season gap in the series between the conference schools.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "1952 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. ^ Dochterman, Scott (June 11, 2011). "Special report: How pass interference, a jawbreaker and tossed apples nearly canned the Iowa-Illinois football rivalry". The Gazette. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  4. ^ http://www.winsipedia.com/games/illinois/vs/iowa Illinois vs. Iowa All-Time. Winsipedia.


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