1990 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Big Ten co-champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 24
APNo. 25
Record8–4 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGene Dahlquist (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorLou Tepper (3rd season)
MVPHoward Griffith
CaptainCurtis Lovelace, Howard Griffith, Moe Gardner, Darrick Brownlow
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1989
1991 →
1990 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Michigan + 6 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 16 Michigan State + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 1
No. 25 Illinois + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
No. 18 Iowa + 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Ohio State 5 – 2 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
Minnesota 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Indiana 3 – 4 – 1 6 – 5 – 1
Northwestern 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Purdue 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Wisconsin 0 – 8 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1990 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach John Mackovic, the Illini compiled an 8–4 record, finished in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference, were ranked No. 25 in the final AP Poll, and lost to Clemson in the 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl.[1]

The team's offensive leader were quarterback Jason Verduzco with 2,567 passing yards, fullback Howard Griffith with 1,115 rushing yards, and Shawn Wax with 863 receiving yards.[2]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 88:00 pmat Arizona*No. 11
L 16–2853,330
September 152:30 pmNo. 9 Colorado*No. 21
ABCW 23–2264,351
September 222:30 pmSouthern Illinois*No. 15
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 56–2164,469[3]
October 62:30 pmat No. 20 Ohio StateNo. 13
ABCW 31–2089,404
October 1312:00 pmPurdueNo. 11
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 34–060,604
October 202:30 pmNo. 24 Michigan StatedaggerNo. 8
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ABCW 15–1370,398
October 271:00 pmat WisconsinNo. 5
W 21–367,746
November 32:30 pmNo. 13 IowaNo. 5
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ABCL 28–5472,714
November 1011:00 amat No. 19 MichiganNo. 17
L 17–22105,343
November 1711:30 amIndianaNo. 22
W 24–1044,639
November 241:00 pmNorthwesternNo. 22
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 28–2332,383
January 112:00 pmvs. No. 14 Clemson*No. 16
NBCL 0–3063,154[4]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[5]

Game summaries

Colorado

#9 Colorado at #21 Illinois
1 234Total
Buffaloes 7 1023 22
• Fighting Illini 3 776 23
     
Scoring summary
Q1ILLDoug Higgins 29-yard field goalILL 3–0
COLGeorge Hemingway 2-yard run (Harper kick)COL 7–3
Q2COLHarper 54-yard field goalCOL 10–3
COLMichael Simmons 32-yard pass from Darian Hagan (Harper kick)COL 17–3
0:28ILLElbert Turner 8-yard pass from Jason Verduzco (Higgins kick)COL 17–10
Q32:28ILLShawn Wax 4-yard pass from Jason Verduzco (Higgins kick)Tied 17–17
COLSafety, Greg Biekert tackled Griffith in end zoneCOL 19–17
Q412:44COLHarper 26-yard field goalCOL 22–17
1:18ILLHoward Griffith 1-yard run (conversion failed)ILL 23–22

See also: 1990 Colorado Buffaloes football team

[6]

Iowa

See also: 1990 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Michigan

See also: 1990 Michigan Wolverines football team and Illinois–Michigan football series

Indiana

See also: 1990 Indiana Hoosiers football team

Northwestern

See also: 1990 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Sweet Sioux Tomahawk

Clemson (Hall of Fame Bowl)

Main article: 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl

See also: 1990 Clemson Tigers football team

Roster

1990 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 29 Howard Griffith Sr
TE 82 Frank Hartley Sr
OT 79 Brad Hopkins So
C 69 Tim Simpson Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 96 Mel Agee Sr
LB 48 Darrick Brownlow Sr
DT 95 Moe Gardner Sr
DB 33 Chris Green Sr
DB 18 Henry Jones Sr
DB 37 Steve Nelson Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Award winners

References

  1. ^ "1990 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "1990 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Batterson, Steve (September 23, 1990). "Griffith levels Salukis". Quad-City Times. p. 1E. Retrieved December 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Clemson 'D' gains Fame in 30–0 win". The Tampa Tribune. January 2, 1991. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "1990 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  6. ^ "Illinois 23, Colorado 22". United Press International. September 15, 1990. Retrieved January 1, 2019.


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