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
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–8–1 (1–6–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gary Moeller (3rd season)
MVP	Lawrence McCullough
Captain	Lawrence McCullough, Stanley Ralph
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1978 1980 →

1979 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		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

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	at No. 10 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 16–33	71,125	[4]
September 15	No. 11 Missouri*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 6–14	49,049	[5][6]
September 22	at Air Force*	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 27–19	18,178	[7]
September 29	Navy*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 12–13	53,825	[8]
October 6	Iowa	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 7–13	51,044	[9]
October 13	at No. 20 Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 14–28	69,413	[10]
October 20	No. 11 Michigan	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 7–27	43,370	[11][12]
October 27	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	T 17–17	47,406	[13]
November 3	No. 5 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	L 7–44	41,870	[14]
November 10	Indiana	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 14–45	30,874	[15]
November 17	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	W 29–13	19,217	[16]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 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. # Name Class 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. # Name Class K 3 Cliff Jones Jr	Head coach Gary Moeller Coordinators/assistant coaches Brad Childress (Running backs) 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.
4. "MSU rolls over Illini 33–16 as Andersen, Vaughn star". The Lima News. September 9, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Richardson, Steve (September 16, 1979). "MU Defense Saves Day At Goal Line". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. p. 1S. Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
6. Richardson, Steve (September 16, 1979). "Running of Ellis Puts Tigers in Gear (continued)". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. p. 9S. Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
7. "Holmes leads Illinois by Air Force, 27–19". The Pantagraph. September 23, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Landlubber Middies top Illini". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 30, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Hawkeyes halt Illini". Journal and Courier. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Hermann lifts Purdue". Tulsa World. October 14, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Mick McCabe (October 21, 1979). "'Winded' U-M offense awakens in 2d half against Illinois, 27-7". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1F, 16F – via Newspapers.com.
12. Billy Neff (October 21, 1979). "Blue blows past game Illinois, 27-7". The Michigan Daily. pp. 1, 12.
13. "Illini fight Gophers to tie". Quad-City Times. October 28, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Buckeyes storm past Illini, 44–7". Detroit Free Press. November 4, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Hoosier steamroller flattens Illini, 45–14". The Indianapolis Star. November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Sub leads Illini to 29–13 victory". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 18, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.