2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Lovie Smith. They finished the season 4–8, 2–7 in Big Ten play finish in last place in the West Division.

2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionWest Division
2018 record4–8 (2–7 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRod Smith (1st season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorHardy Nickerson (3rd season)
Base defense4-3
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
(Capacity: 60,670)
2018 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 3 Ohio State xy$  8 –1     13 –1  
No. 14 Michigan x  8 –1     10 –3  
No. 17 Penn State  6 –3     9 –4  
Michigan State  5 –4     7 –6  
Maryland  3 –6     5 –7  
Indiana  2 –7     5 –7  
Rutgers  0 –9     1 –11  
West Division
No. 21 Northwestern xy  8 –1     9 –5  
Wisconsin  5 –4     8 –5  
No. 25 Iowa  5 –4     9 –4  
Purdue  5 –4     6 –7  
Minnesota  3 –6     7 –6  
Nebraska  3 –6     4 –8  
Illinois  2 –7     4 –8  
Championship: Ohio State 45, Northwestern 24
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Fighting Illini finished the 2017 season 2–10, 0–9 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in the West Division.

Offseason

Position key
Back B Center C Cornerback CB Defensive back DB
Defensive end DE Defensive lineman DL Defensive tackle DT End E
Fullback FB Guard G Halfback HB Kicker K
Kickoff returner KR Offensive tackle OT Offensive lineman OL Linebacker LB
Long snapper LS Punter P Punt returner PR Quarterback QB
Running back RB Safety S Tight end TE Wide receiver WR

Recruits

The Fighting Illini signed a total of 17 recruits on Early National Signing Day on December 20, 2017.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
John Mackey Award[1] Louis Dorsey TE SO
Wuerffel Trophy[2] Nick Allegretti OL SR

Schedule

The 2018 schedule consisted of seven home and five away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini hosted Big Ten foes Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, and traveled to Rutgers, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska and Northwestern.[3]

The Fighting Illini hosted all three non-conference opponents, Kent State from the Mid-American Conference, Western Illinois from Missouri Valley Football Conference, and South Florida from the American Athletic Conference. The South Florida game was played at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 111:00 a.m.Kent State*
BTNW 31–2431,898
September 86:30 p.m.Western Illinois*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 34–1439,252
September 152:30 p.m.vs. South Florida*
BTNL 19–2521,725
September 218:00 p.m.No. 10 Penn State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
FS1L 24–6334,704
October 611:00 a.m.at Rutgers
BTNW 38–1736,702
October 132:30 p.m.Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
FS1L 7–4641,966
October 2011:00 a.m.at No. 23 Wisconsin
FS1L 20–4979,736
October 272:30 p.m.at Maryland
BTNL 33–6330,387
November 32:30 p.m.Minnesota
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 55–3135,774
November 1011:00 a.m.at Nebraska
BTNL 35–5488,316
November 172:30 p.m.Iowa
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNL 0–6333,313
November 242:30 p.m.at No. 20 Northwestern
BTNL 16–2437,124
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time
Schedule Source:[3]

Game summaries

Kent State
1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Flashes 7 10 7 0 24
Fighting Illini 3 0 21 7 31
See also: 2018 Kent State Golden Flashes football team

Western Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Leathernecks 7 0 7 0 14
Fighting Illini 0 14 10 10 34
See also: 2018 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

South Florida
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulls 7 0 0 18 25
Fighting Illini 10 6 3 0 19
See also: 2018 South Florida Bulls football team

Penn State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 10 Nittany Lions 7 14 7 35 63
Fighting Illini 7 10 7 0 24
See also: 2018 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

at Rutgers
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 10 14 0 14 38
Scarlet Knights 7 7 0 3 17
See also: 2018 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

Purdue
1 2 3 4 Total
Boilermakers 14 15 7 10 46
Fighting Illini 7 0 0 0 7
See also: 2018 Purdue Boilermakers football team and Illinois–Purdue football rivalry

at Wisconsin
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 0 10 7 3 20
No. 23 Badgers 14 14 14 7 49
See also: 2018 Wisconsin Badgers football team

at Maryland
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 3 6 10 14 33
Terrapins 14 14 21 14 63
See also: 2018 Maryland Terrapins football team

Minnesota
1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Gophers 7 10 0 14 31
Fighting Illini 14 10 21 10 55
See also: 2018 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

at Nebraska
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 14 7 0 14 35
Cornhuskers 21 17 7 9 54
See also: 2018 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

Iowa
1 2 3 4 Total
Hawkeyes 7 28 14 14 63
Fighting Illini 0 0 0 0 0
See also: 2018 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

at Northwestern
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 3 3 0 10 16
No. 20 Wildcats 7 14 3 0 24
See also: 2018 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

Roster
2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 1 A. J. Bush  Sr
RB 2 Reggie Corbin  Jr
RB 3 Jakari Norwood Fr
WR 4 Ricky Smalling So
WR 5 Carmoni Green So
WR 6 Dominic Stampley  So
QB 7 Coran Taylor Fr
QB 8 M. J. Rivers II Fr
WR 9 Sam Mays Sr
QB 10 Cam Thomas So
WR 11 Carlos Sandy Fr
QB 12 Matt Robinson Fr
TE 13 Caleb Reams  Jr
QB 14 Drake Davis Fr
QB 15 Trenard Davis  Jr
QB 16 Cam Miller  So
WR 18 Mike Dudek  Sr
TE 19 Louis Dorsey So
RB 21 Ra'Von Bonner So
RB 22 Kenyon Sims Fr
RB 25 Dre Brown  Jr
RB 26 Mike Epstein So
LB 32 Justice Williams  Jr
TE 36 Austin Roberts  Sr
WR 37 Zach Holman  Sr
OL 52 Adam Solomon  Jr
OL 53 Nick Allegretti  Sr
OL 55 Kendrick Green  Fr
OL 58 Preston Engel Fr
OL 63 Alex Palczewski  Fr
OL 65 Doug Kramer  So
OL 66 Jordyn Slaughter Fr
OL 68 Jake Stover  Fr
OL 70 Reuben Unije Fr
OL 71 Zeke Martin  Jr
OL 72 Kievan Myers Fr
OL 73 Jake Cerny  So
OL 74 Andrew Trainer  Jr
OL 75 Kurt Gavin  So
OL 76 Larry Boyd So
OL 79 Vederian Lowe So
WR 80 Edwin Carter Fr
TE 81 Griffin Palmer  So
WR 82 Dylan Thomas Fr
TE 83 Bobby Walker  Jr
WR 84 Jordan Holmes Fr
WR 85 Cam Stacy Fr
WR 86 Donny Navarro (I) So
TE 87 Daniel Barker Fr
TE 88 Brandon Jones  So
TE 89 Alex Pihlstrom  Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 3 Del'Shawn Phillips Sr
DB 4 Bennett Williams So
LB 5 Milo Eifler (I)  So
DB 6 Tony Adams So
DB 7 Stanley Green Jr
DB 8 Nate Hobbs So
LB 9 Dele Harding Jr
LB 10 James Knight So
DB 15 Delano Ware Fr
DB 17 Kendall Smith So
DB 20 Nick Walker So
DB 21 Jartavius Martin Fr
DB 22 Dylan Wyatt Fr
DB 23 Ron Hardge III Fr
DB 24 Dawson DeGroot So
DB 25 Kerby Joseph Fr
DB 27 Alec Andrea Fr
DB 28 Nolan Bernat Jr
DB 29 Christian Bobak  So
DB 30 Sydney Brown Fr
DB 31 Cameron Watkins  Jr
DL 33 Ezekiel Holmes Fr
DB 34 P. C. Daniel II Fr
LB 35 Jake Hansen  So
LB 41 Jimmy Marchese  Jr
DB 42 Michael Marchese So
LB 44 Drew Murtaugh  So
LB 45 Khalan Tolson Fr
LB 46 Alex McEachern  Fr
LB 47 Jacob Hollins Fr
DL 48 Julian Pearl Fr
LB 51 Sean Coghlan  Fr
LB 52 Ayo Shogbonyo  So
LB 54 Marc Mondesir So
DL 55 Jamal Milan  Jr
DL 90 Lere Oladipo  Fr
DL 91 Jamal Woods So
DL 92 Isaiah Gay So
DL 93 Calvin Avery Fr
DL 94 Verdis Brown Fr
DL 95 Kenyon Jackson Jr
DL 96 Tymir Oliver Jr
DL 97 Bobby Roundtree So
DL 98 Deon Pate  Fr
DL 99 Owen Carney Jr. So
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
P 14 Blake Hayes So
K 17 James McCourt  So
K 38 Caleb Griffin Fr
K 43 Chase McLaughlin  Sr
LS 56 Ethan Tabel  So
LS 62 Ron Gaines III Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Hardy Nickerson – Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers
  • Rod Smith – Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
  • Gill Byrd – Passing Game Coordinator / Safeties
  • Bob Ligashesky – Special Teams Coordinator
  • Luke Butkus – Offensive Line
  • Austin Clark – Defensive Line
  • Andrew Hayes-Stoker – Wide Receivers
  • Cory Patterson – Tight Ends
  • Thad Ward – Running Backs
  • Rob Delaney - Graduate Assistant - Offense
  • Joe Fotu - Graduate Assistant - Defense
  • Zach Grant - Graduate Assistant - Offense
  • Miles Smith - Graduate Assistant - Defense
  • Peter Collins - Defensive Analyst
  • Cody Gibson - Offensive Analyst
  • Bob McClaine - Offensive Analyst
  • Kingsley Osei-Asibey - Defensive Analyst
  • Robert Wright - Defensive Analyst
  • Jake Zweig - Special Team Analyst
  • Jake Ellsworth - Defensive Analyst
  • Joey Boese - Head Football Strength & Conditioning Coach
  • Tim Knox - Director of Football Operations
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster
Last update: August 22, 2018

Awards and honors
Individual Awards
Player Award Ref.
Chase McLaughlin Bakken–Andersen Kicker of the Year [4]
All-Big Ten
Player Position Coaches Media
Chase McLaughlin K 1 2
Nick Allegretti OG HM 2
Reggie Corbin RB 3 3
Blake Hayes P HM 3
Alex Palczewski OT – HM
Del'Shawn Phillips LB – HM
Bobby Roundtree DL – HM
HM = Honorable mention. Reference:[4]

Players drafted into the NFL
See also: 2019 NFL Draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Club
7216Nick AllegrettiCKansas City Chiefs

References
  1. "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  2. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  3. "Illinois Athletics - Football Future Schedules". University of Illinois Department of Athletics. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  4. "2018 All-Big Ten Football Teams and Individual Award Recipients" (PDF). BigTen.org. Big Ten Conference. November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
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