The Illinois Fighting Illini football statistical leaders are individual statistical leaders of the Illinois Fighting Illini football program in various categories,[1] including passing, rushing, receiving, total offense, defensive stats, and kicking. Within those areas, the lists identify single-game, single-season, and career leaders. The Fighting Illini represent the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the NCAA's Big Ten Conference.
Although Illinois began competing in intercollegiate football in 1890,[1] the school's official record book generally does not include statistics from before the 1950s, as records from before this year are often incomplete and inconsistent. An exception to this is Red Grange, who appears several times on these lists despite playing in the 1920s.
These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons:
- Since the 1950s, seasons have increased from 10 games to 11 and then 12 games in length.
- The NCAA didn't allow freshmen to play varsity football until 1972 (with the exception of the World War II years), allowing players to have four-year careers.
- Bowl games only began counting toward single-season and career statistics in 2002.[2] The Fighting Illini have played in 4 bowl games since then, all since 2008, giving recent players an extra game to accumulate statistics.
These lists are updated through the end of the 2016 season.