1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach John Mackovic, the Illini compiled a 6–5–1 record, finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference, and lost to Florida in the 1988 All-American Bowl.^[1]

1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football
All-American Bowl, L 10–14 vs. Florida
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–5–1 (5–2–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Mackovic (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Gene Dahlquist (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Lou Tepper (1st season)
MVP	Keith Jones
Captain	Glenn Cobb, Mark McGowan
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

1988 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Michigan $	7	–	0	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1			6	–	5	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1			6	–	5	–	1
Iowa	4	–	1	–	3			6	–	4	–	3
No. 20 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Ohio State	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	5	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	6	–	2			2	–	7	–	2
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Jeff George with 2,257 passing yards, running back Keith Jones with 1,108 rushing yards, and Steve Williams with 523 receiving yards.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	Washington State*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		L 7–44	54,458
September 10	at Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		L 16–21	70,091
September 17	Utah*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 35–24	54,002
October 1	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 31–12	90,274
October 8	Purdue	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 20–0	63,473
October 15	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 34–6	57,886
October 22	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		L 21–28	65,771
October 29	at Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		T 27–27	40,554
November 5	No. 20 Indiana	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 21–20	66,201
November 12	at No. 13 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)		L 9–38	105,714
November 19	Northwestern	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 14–9	43,329
December 29	vs. Florida*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (All-American Bowl)	ESPN	L 10–14	48,218	[3]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Mike Bellamy Jr QB 11 Jeff George So RB 29 Howard Griffith So TE 82 Frank Hartley So RB 36 Keith Jones Sr C 53 Tim Scully So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 96 Mel Agee So LB 48 Darrick Brownlow So DT 95 Moe Gardner So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John Mackovic Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. "1988 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
2. "1988 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
3. "Smith's TDs lift Gators". Birmingham Post-Herald. December 30, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.