1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 5–3–1 record, were ranked #15 in the final AP Poll, and finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Conference. The team lost three games to teams ranked in the top 10 in the AP Poll: #9-ranked Notre Dame (7–13); #8-ranked Michigan (0–14); and #2-ranked Ohio State (12–26).[1] Halfback Buddy Young was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
APNo. 15
1944 record5–4–1 (3–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPBuddy Young
CaptainSelected each game
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
1944 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 Ohio State $ 6 0 0  9 0 0
No. 8 Michigan 5 2 0  8 2 0
Purdue 4 2 0  5 5 0
Minnesota 3 2 1  5 3 1
Indiana 4 3 0  7 3 0
No. 15 Illinois 3 3 0  5 4 1
Wisconsin 2 4 0  3 6 0
Northwestern 0 5 1  1 7 1
Iowa 0 6 0  1 7 0
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendance
September 16Illinois State*W 79–0
September 23Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 26–18
September 30at Great Lakes Navy*
T 26–26
October 7Purdue
L 19–35
October 14IowaNo. 14
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 40–6
October 21at Pittsburgh*W 39–5
October 28No. 1 Notre Dame*No. 14
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 7–13
November 11at No. 8 MichiganNo. 10L 0–14
November 18at No. 4 Ohio StateL 12–2683,627
November 25at NorthwesternW 25–6
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

  1. "1944 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.


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