Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

The Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry is a college football rivalry between the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats. The Land of Lincoln Trophy is presented to the winner of the game. The teams began competing for the new prize in 2009, replacing the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk, which was used from 1945 to 2008.^[2]

Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

Illinois Fighting Illini Northwestern Wildcats
First meeting	October 12, 1892 Tie, 16–16
Latest meeting	November 30, 2024 Illinois, 38–28
Next meeting	November 29, 2025
Trophy	Land of Lincoln Trophy Sweet Sioux Tomahawk (former)
Statistics
Meetings total	118
All-time series	Illinois leads, 58–55–5[1]
Largest victory	Illinois, 66–0 (1894)
Longest win streak	Illinois, 7 (1913–1928, 1979–1985)
Current win streak	Illinois, 1 (2024–present)

100km
62miles

Northwestern

Illinois

  

Locations of Illinois and Northwestern

Traveling trophies

Sweet Sioux Tomahawk

The Sweet Sioux Tomahawk was presented to the winner of the annual football game between the two schools. The original trophy was a carved wooden "cigar store" Indian, but was stolen and replaced by a replica of a tomahawk.^[3]

Northwestern won the Tomahawk first in 1945, beating Illinois 13–7 in Evanston. At the end of the 2008 football season, when the teams last played for the trophy, Illinois led the series 52–45–5, and 33–29–2 during the era of the Tomahawk. Northwestern narrowed the series record in the trophy's final years, winning five of the last six meetings.

The 2008 game in Evanston was the final time the two teams played for the Tomahawk, which Northwestern won 27–10. The NCAA mandated that all Native American imagery deemed hostile and abusive must be removed from college athletics, including the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk. Before the game, the schools agreed that Northwestern would be the trophy's permanent resting place. If Illinois had won the game, it would have surrendered the trophy to Northwestern after the on-field celebration.

Land of Lincoln Trophy

Beginning in 2009, the two schools played for the Land of Lincoln Trophy, known by fans of both schools as "The Hat". The trophy's name derives from the official state nickname of Illinois and depicts a bronze replica of a stovepipe hat famously worn by Abraham Lincoln. It was designed by Dick Tracy cartoonist Dick Locher^[4] and cast by sculptor Don Reed of River's Edge Foundry, Beloit Wisconsin.

Northwestern won the trophy in its inaugural game in 2009. The 2010 contest was played at Wrigley Field, home of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs. It was the first football game at Wrigley Field since 1970 and the first collegiate football game at Wrigley Field since 1938.^[5] The field used an east-west field configuration (home plate to right field). In order to keep the playing field at regulation size, the safety clearances for each end zone to the walls in the field were considerably less than normal. In particular, the east (right field) end zone came under scrutiny as its end zone was wedged extremely close to the right field wall (as close as one foot in some areas), forcing the goal posts to be hung from the right field wall in order to fit. Despite extra padding provided in these locations, it was decided that all offensive plays for both teams play to the west end zone, where there was more safety clearance. The east end zone could still be used on defensive touchdowns and punt returns, as well as defensive safeties; in fact, there was one interception run back for an eastbound touchdown.^[6] Illinois won 48–27.

Since 2014, the game has become a division contest as Illinois and Northwestern are aligned into the Big Ten's Western division to accommodate the arrival of Maryland and Rutgers. The Big Ten announced its plans to realign its schools geographically in April 2013 in time for the 2014 football season.

Game results

1927 game at Northwestern

2010 game at Wrigley Field in Chicago

2016 game at Northwestern

Illinois victories

Northwestern victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 12, 1892 Champaign Tie 16–16 2 October 21, 1893 Evanston Tie 0–0 3 November 3, 1894 Champaign Illinois 66–0 4 November 23, 1895 Champaign Illinois 38–4 5 November 7, 1896 Champaign Northwestern 10–4 6 October 20, 1900 Evanston Tie 0–0 7 October 26, 1901 Champaign Northwestern 17–11 8 November 22, 1902 Evanston Illinois 17–0 9 October 31, 1903 Champaign Northwestern 12–11 10 November 12, 1904 Evanston Northwestern 12–6 11 November 21, 1908 Champaign Illinois 64–8 12 November 13, 1909 Evanston Illinois 35–0 13 November 12, 1910 Evanston Illinois 27–0 14 November 18, 1911 Champaign Illinois 27–13 15 November 23, 1912 Evanston Northwestern 6–0 16 October 18, 1913 Champaign Illinois 37–0 17 October 24, 1914 Evanston Illinois 37–0 18 October 23, 1915 Champaign Illinois 36–6 19 November 4, 1922 Champaign Illinois 6–3 20 October 27, 1923 Chicago Illinois 29–0 21 October 22, 1927 Evanston Illinois 7–6 22 October 27, 1928 Champaign Illinois 6–0 23 November 2, 1929 Evanston Northwestern 7–0 24 October 18, 1930 Champaign Northwestern 32–0 25 October 31, 1931 Evanston Northwestern 32–6 26 October 15, 1932 Champaign Northwestern 26–0 27 November 11, 1933 Evanston Illinois 3–0 28 November 10, 1934 Evanston Illinois 14–3 29 November 2, 1935 Evanston Northwestern 10–3 30 October 24, 1936 Champaign #4 Northwestern 13–2 31 November 6, 1937 Evanston Illinois 6–0 32 October 22, 1938 Champaign #18 Northwestern 13–0 33 October 28, 1939 Evanston Northwestern 13–0 34 November 9, 1940 Evanston #10 Northwestern 32–14 35 November 22, 1941 Evanston #10 Northwestern 27–0 36 November 7, 1942 Evanston #20 Illinois 14–7 37 November 20, 1943 Evanston #9 Northwestern 53–6 38 November 25, 1944 Evanston Illinois 25–6 39 November 24, 1945 Evanston Northwestern 13–7 40 November 23, 1946 Evanston #5 Illinois 20–0 41 November 22, 1947 Champaign Northwestern 28–13 42 November 20, 1948 Evanston #7 Northwestern 20–0 43 November 19, 1949 Champaign Northwestern 9–7 44 November 25, 1950 Evanston Northwestern 14–7 45 November 24, 1951 Evanston #6 Illinois 3–0 46 November 22, 1952 Champaign Northwestern 28–26 47 November 21, 1953 Evanston #7 Illinois 39–14 48 November 20, 1954 Champaign Northwestern 20–7 49 November 19, 1955 Evanston Tie 7–7 50 November 24, 1956 Evanston Northwestern 14–13 51 November 23, 1957 Champaign Illinois 27–0 52 November 22, 1958 Champaign Illinois 27–20 53 November 21, 1959 Champaign Illinois 28–0 54 November 19, 1960 Evanston Northwestern 14–7 55 October 7, 1961 Champaign Northwestern 28–7 56 October 6, 1962 Evanston Northwestern 45–0 57 October 5, 1963 Champaign Illinois 10–9 58 October 3, 1964 Evanston #3 Illinois 17–6 59 November 20, 1965 Evanston Illinois 20–6 60 November 19, 1966 Evanston Northwestern 35–7 No. Date Location Winner Score 61 November 18, 1967 Evanston Illinois 27–21 62 November 16, 1968 Champaign Illinois 14–0 63 October 11, 1969 Champaign Northwestern 10–6 64 October 10, 1970 Evanston Northwestern 48–0 65 October 30, 1971 Champaign Illinois 24–7 66 November 4, 1972 Evanston Illinois 43–13 67 November 24, 1973 Evanston Northwestern 9–6 68 November 23, 1974 Champaign Illinois 28–14 69 November 22, 1975 Evanston Illinois 28–7 70 November 20, 1976 Champaign Illinois 48–6 71 November 19, 1977 Evanston Northwestern 28–6 72 September 9, 1978 Champaign Tie 0–0 73 November 17, 1979 Evanston Illinois 29–13 74 September 6, 1980 Champaign Illinois 35–9 75 November 21, 1981 Evanston Illinois 49–12 76 September 4, 1982 Champaign Illinois 49–13 77 November 19, 1983 Evanston #4 Illinois 56–24 78 September 1, 1984 Champaign Illinois 24–16 79 November 23, 1985 Evanston Illinois 45–20 80 November 22, 1986 Champaign Northwestern 23–18 81 November 21, 1987 Evanston Northwestern 28–10 82 November 19, 1988 Champaign Illinois 28–13 83 November 25, 1989 Evanston #11 Illinois 63–14 84 November 24, 1990 Champaign #22 Illinois 28–23 85 October 26, 1991 Evanston Northwestern 17–11 86 October 24, 1992 Champaign Northwestern 27–26 87 October 30, 1993 Champaign Illinois 20–13 88 October 29, 1994 Evanston Illinois 28–7 89 October 28, 1995 Champaign #8 Northwestern 17–14 90 October 26, 1996 Evanston #11 Northwestern 27–24 91 November 8, 1997 Champaign Northwestern 34–21 92 October 3, 1998 Evanston Illinois 13–10 93 November 20, 1999 Champaign Illinois 29–7 94 November 18, 2000 Evanston #23 Northwestern 61–23 95 November 24, 2001 Champaign #10 Illinois 34–28 96 November 23, 2002 Evanston Illinois 31–24 97 November 22, 2003 Champaign Northwestern 37–20 98 November 20, 2004 Evanston Northwestern 28–21 99 November 18, 2005 Champaign Northwestern 38–21 100 November 18, 2006 Evanston Northwestern 27–16 101 November 17, 2007 Champaign #20 Illinois 41–22 102 November 22, 2008 Evanston Northwestern 27–10 103 November 14, 2009 Champaign Northwestern 21–16 104 November 20, 2010 Chicago Illinois 48–27 105 October 1, 2011 Champaign #24 Illinois 38–35 106 November 24, 2012 Evanston Northwestern 50–14 107 November 30, 2013 Champaign Northwestern 37–34 108 November 29, 2014 Evanston Illinois 47–33 109 November 28, 2015 Chicago #17 Northwestern 24–14 110 November 26, 2016 Evanston Northwestern 42–21 111 November 25, 2017 Champaign #22 Northwestern 42–7 112 November 24, 2018 Evanston #19 Northwestern 24–16 113 November 30, 2019 Champaign Northwestern 29–10 114 December 12, 2020 Evanston #15 Northwestern 28–10 115 November 27, 2021 Champaign Illinois 47–14 116 November 26, 2022 Evanston Illinois 41–3 117 November 25, 2023 Champaign Northwestern 45–43 118 November 30, 2024 Chicago #23 Illinois 38–28 Series: Illinois leads 58–55–5[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games
• List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I

References

1. "Winsipedia – Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Northwestern Wildcats football series history". Winsipedia.
2. "Illinois and Northwestern Announce Football Series Trophy". NUsports.com. April 25, 2009. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009.
3. "Sweet Sioux Tomahawk goes the way of Chief Illiniwek". Chicago Tribune. November 22, 2008.
4. "Trophy to hang their hat on". Chicago Tribune. November 14, 2009.
5. Muskat, Carrie (April 22, 2010). "Football returning to Wrigley Field". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
6. Rittenberg, Adam (November 19, 2010). "Wildcats, Illini to use one end zone at Wrigley". ESPN Big Ten Blog.