1979 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1979 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Gary Moeller, the Illini compiled a 2–8–1 record and finished in ninth place in the Big Ten Conference.[1]

1979 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
1979 record2–8–1 (1–6–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPLawrence McCullough
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
1979 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 Ohio State $ 8 0 0  11 1 0
No. 10 Purdue 7 1 0  10 2 0
No. 18 Michigan 6 2 0  8 4 0
No. 19 Indiana 5 3 0  8 4 0
Iowa 4 4 0  5 6 0
Minnesota 3 5 1  4 6 1
Michigan State 3 5 0  5 6 0
Wisconsin 3 5 0  4 7 0
Illinois 1 6 1  2 8 1
Northwestern 0 9 0  1 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Lawrence McCullough with 1,254 passing yards, running back Mike Holmes with 792 rushing yards, and wide receiver John Lopez with 296 receiving yards.[2] McCullough was selected as the team's most valuable player.[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResult
September 8at No. 10 Michigan StateL 16–33
September 15No. 11 Missouri*L 6–14
September 22at Air Force*W 27–19
September 29Navy*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 12–13
October 6Iowa
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 7–13
October 13at No. 20 PurdueL 14–28
October 20No. 11 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 7–27
October 27at MinnesotaT 17–17
November 3No. 5 Ohio State
L 7–44
November 10Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 14–45
November 17at NorthwesternW 29–13
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
T 71 Lou Belmont So
C 63 Greg Boeke Jr
TE 80 Lee Boeke Jr
QB 9 Tim McAvoy Jr
C 53 Mike McBeth Sr
G 76 Bob McClure Sr
QB 11 Lawrence McCullough Sr
G 62 Troy McMillin Jr
G 78 Ray Pavesic Sr
C 51 John Scott Jr
WR 12 Kenny Shaw So
TE 81 Mike Sherrod Sr
QB 10 Nick Sowa Sr
FB 42 Calvin Thomas So
QB 14 Rich Weiss Jr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 15 Bonji Bonner So
DT 73 Reggie Brown Jr
OLB 31 Pete Burgard So
OLB 58 Tab Carmien Jr
LB 90 Chris Carr Sr
DB 35 Bill Forrester So
DB 6 Rick George So
LB 38 John Gillen Jr
LB 45 Bob Hauser Sr
DB 48 Tim Holm Sr
LB 89 Dan MacLean Sr
DT 86 Stanley Ralph Sr
LB 85 Jerry Ramshaw Sr
LB 34 Jack Squirek So
CB 16 Tyron Worthy So
DB 39 Mark Zimmer So
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 3 Cliff Jones Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

References

  1. "1979 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. "1979 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 29, 2016.


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