2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini, who were led during the regular season by seventh-year head coach Ron Zook, are members of the Big Ten Conference in the Legends Division and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. Zook was fired after the team lost the final six games of its regular season.[1] Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning was appointed as interim head coach led the team in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. On December 9, Illinois hired Tim Beckman as their new permanent head coach.

2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionLeaders Division
2011 record7–6 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorPaul Petrino (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorVic Koenning (2nd season)
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
(Capacity: 60,670)
2011 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Legends Division
No. 11 Michigan State x  7 –1     11 –3  
No. 12 Michigan %  6 –2     11 –2  
No. 24 Nebraska  5 –3     9 –4  
Iowa  4 –4     7 –6  
Northwestern  3 –5     6 –7  
Minnesota  2 –6     3 –9  
Leaders Division
No. 10 Wisconsin xy$  6 –2     11 –3  
Penn State x  6 –2     9 –4  
Purdue  4 –4     7 –6  
Ohio State  3 –5     6 –7  
Illinois  2 –6     7 –6  
Indiana  0 –8     1 –11  
Championship: Wisconsin 42, Michigan State 39
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The Illini set a record that season, becoming the first NCAA FBS team to start their season off 6–0, but finish 6–6. All of their six losses came against Big Ten Conference opponents.

Before the team's appearance in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, nearly all of their assistant coaches were fired, as well as head coach Ron Zook.

The 2011 season ended with a 7–6 overall record, 2–6 in Big Ten play to finish 5th in Leaders Division, with a victory over UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 32:30 pmArkansas State*
BTNW 33–1545,154[2]
September 1011:00 amSouth Dakota State*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 56–342,212[2]
September 176:00 pmNo. 22 Arizona State*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 17–1450,843[2]
September 242:30 pmWestern Michigan*No. 24
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 23–2043,684[2]
October 111:00 amNorthwesternNo. 22
ESPN2W 38–3553,243[2]
October 81:30 pmat IndianaNo. 19
BTNW 41–2041,665[2]
October 152:30 pmOhio StateNo. 16
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (Illibuck)
ABC/ESPNL 7–1755,229[2]
October 2211:00 amat PurdueNo. 23
ESPN2L 14–2145,146[2]
October 292:30 pmat No. 19 Penn State
ABC/ESPN2L 7–1097,828[3]
November 122:30 pmNo. 22 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ABC/ESPNL 14–3160,670[2]
November 1911:00 amNo. 15 Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ESPN2L 17–2854,633[2]
November 262:30 pmat Minnesota
BTNL 7–2741,549[2]
December 3112:30 pmvs. UCLA*
ESPNW 20–1429,878[4]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Arkansas State
See also: 2011 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team
Arkansas State at Illinois
1 234Total
Arkansas State 0 807 15
• Illinois 7 10133 33

Illinois opened the year at home for the first time since 2006. The opener was the first of eight home games for the Illini. After a slow start and falling behind 8–7 with 2:50 left in the 2nd quarter, the Illini scored a touchdown and a late field goal to take a 17 8 halftime lead. The offense continued to roll in the 2nd half as Illinois extended the lead to win the contest 33 15.

Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase led the Illini offense, finishing 16 for 23 on pass attempts totaling in 267 yards and two touchdowns. A.J. Jenkins was a favorite target for Scheelhaase, grabbing 11 receptions for 148 yards and 1 TD. Darius Millines also hauled in a TD and finished with 119 yards on 5 receptions. Jason Ford led the rushing attack with 86 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns.

South Dakota State
See also: 2011 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team
South Dakota State at Illinois
1 234Total
South Dakota State 0 300 3
• Illinois 21 14147 56

Arizona State
See also: 2011 Arizona State Sun Devils football team
Arizona State at Illinois
1 234Total
#22 Arizona State 7 007 14
• Illinois 10 007 17

Western Michigan
See also: 2011 Western Michigan Broncos football team
Western Michigan at Illinois
1 234Total
Western Michigan 3 1007 20
• #24 Illinois 7 3103 23

Northwestern
See also: 2011 Northwestern Wildcats football team
Northwestern at Illinois
1 234Total
Northwestern 0 14147 35
• #24 Illinois 7 3721 38

[5]

Indiana
See also: 2011 Indiana Hoosiers football team
Illinois at Indiana
1 234Total
• #19 Illinois 14 1377 41
Indiana 10 307 20

Ohio State
See also: 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
Ohio State at Illinois
1 234Total
• Ohio State 3 077 17
#16 Illinois 0 007 7

Purdue
See also: 2010 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Illinois at Purdue
1 234Total
#23 Illinois 0 0014 14
• Purdue 7 1400 21

[6]

Penn State
See also: 2011 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
Illinois at Penn State
1 234Total
Illinois 0 070 7
• #19 Penn State 0 0010 10

Michigan
See also: 2011 Michigan Wolverines football team
Michigan at Illinois
1 234Total
• #22 Michigan 7 7314 31
Illinois 0 077 14

Wisconsin
See also: 2011 Wisconsin Badgers football team
Wisconsin at Illinois
1 234Total
• Wisconsin 0 7147 28
Illinois 0 1700 17

Minnesota
See also: 2011 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
Illinois at Minnesota
1 234Total
Illinois 0 070 7
• Minnesota 0 2070 27

UCLA (Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl)
See also: 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (December) and 2011 UCLA Bruins football team
Illinois at Bruins
1 234Total
• Illinois 0 3710 20
Bruins 0 707 14

The Bruins, with a losing record, were granted a waiver to play in a bowl game by the NCAA on November 30, 2011 since their seventh loss was played in the post-season Pac-12 Championship Game.[7] The Bruins were coached by interim head coach Mike Johnson, who replaced Rick Neuheisel.

Second Quarter scoring: UCLA – Taylor Embree 16-yard pass from Kevin Prince (Tyler Gonzalez kick); ILL – Derek Dimke 36-yard field goal

Third Quarter scoring: ILL – T. Hawthorne 39-yard interception return (Dimke kick)

Fourth Quarter scoring: ILL – Dimke 37-yard field goal; ILL – A. J. Jenkins 60-yard pass from N. Scheelhaase (Dimke kick); UCLA – Nelson Rosario 38-yard pass from Prince (Gonzalez kick)

Rankings
See also: 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP NR NR NR 24 24 19 16 23 RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 
Coaches NR NR NR RV 22 16 15 21 RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 
Harris Not released 14 20 RV NR NR NR NR NR NR Not released 
BCS Not released 23 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Not released

References
  1. Goudie, Chuck (November 28, 2011). "Big Price Tag Attached to Zook's Firing". WLS. Chicago. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  2. "Cumulative Season Statistics". University of Illinois Department of Athletics. Archived from the original on July 25, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
  3. "Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Box Score". ESPN. October 29, 2011. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  4. Harris, Flint (December 23, 2011). "2011-2012 Bowl Game Attendance". HolyTurf. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  5. "Illinois Completes Comeback in Final Minute to Defeat Rival Northwestern". ESPN. October 1, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  6. "Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Purdue Boilermakers Box Score". ESPN. October 22, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  7. UCLA Bowl Waiver Approved By NCAA , UCLABruins.com, November 30, 2011
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