1985 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1985 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Peach Bowl, L 29–31 vs. Army
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–5–1 (5–2–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Mike White (6th season)
MVP	David Williams
Captain	Jack Trudeau, Craig Swoope, Chris White
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1984 1986 →

1985 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Iowa $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 2 Michigan	6	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1			6	–	5	–	1
No. 14 Ohio State	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	1	–	7	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1985 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1985 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Mike White, the Illini compiled a 6–5–1 record and finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1] Illinois was invited to the Peach Bowl, where the Illini lost to Army.

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Jack Trudeau with 2,938 passing yards, running back Thomas Rooks with 718 rushing yards, and wide receiver David Williams with 1,047 receiving yards.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 7	No. 6 USC*	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 10–20	76,369
September 14	Southern Illinois*	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 28–25	76,330
September 21	at No. 18 Nebraska*	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 25–52	76,149
October 5	No. 5 Ohio State		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	W 31–28	76,343
October 12	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 24–30	68,837
October 19	at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 30–17	76,438
October 26	Wisconsin		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 38–25	76,395
November 2	No. 4 Michigan		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	T 3–3	76,397
November 9	at No. 6 Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 0–59	66,120
November 16	Indiana		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 41–24	78,805
November 23	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	W 45–20	33,054
December 31	vs. Army*		Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	L 29–31	29,857
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

No. 6 USC

USC at Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 6 Trojans 14 3 3 0 20 No. 11 Fighting Illini 0 0 7 3 10 Date: September 7 Location: Memorial Stadium Game attendance: 76,639 Game weather: 90 °F (32 °C)

Scoring summary 1 USC Hank Norman 9-yard pass from Sean Salisbury (Don Shafer kick) USC 7–0 USC Randy Tanner 46-yard pass from Sean Salisbury (Don Shafer kick) USC 14–0 2 USC Don Shafer 46-yard field goal USC 17–0 3 USC Don Shafer 23-yard field goal USC 20–0 Illinois Cap Boso 83-yard pass from Jack Trudeau (Chris White kick) USC 20–7 4 Illinois Chris White 28-yard field goal USC 20–10

In a game that some considered a possible Rose Bowl preview, the Illini were doomed by 6 turnovers and found themselves in a 14–0 very early in the game. Illinois pulled to within 20–10 on a Chris White field goal early in the fourth quarter, but USC used ball control to grind out the clock – including 22 minutes of possession in the second half – and gain a big road win in the season opener for both teams.^[3][4]

At No. 18 Nebraska

Illinois at Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total No. 20 Fighting Illini 0 10 0 15 25 • No. 18 Cornhuskers 14 10 21 7 52 Date: September 21 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game attendance: 76,149

^[5]

No. 5 Ohio State

Ohio State at Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total No. 5 Buckeyes 0 14 14 0 28 • Fighting Illini 14 0 7 10 31 Date: October 5 Location: Memorial Stadium

^[6][7]

At Michigan State

Wisconsin

No. 4 Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total No. 4 Wolverines 0 0 3 0 3 Fighting Illini 0 0 3 0 3 Date: November 2 Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL Game attendance: 76,397

On November 2, 1985, Illinois played Michigan to a 3–3 tie at Memorial Stadium. Each team kicked a field goal in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Michigan drove the length of the field, but fullback Gerald White fumbled at the Illinois 12-yard line, with the Illini recovering at the nine-yard line. Illinois then drove the length of the field and, with time running out, Chris White lined up for what would have been a game-winning 37-yard field goal. Dieter Heren tipped the ball, which hit the cross-bar and bounced back, and the game ended in a tie. After the game, head coach White said, "I don't remember feeling worse after a game. . . . I'm devastated."^[8]

At No. 6 Iowa

Illinois at Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total Fighting Illini 0 0 0 0 0 • No. 6 Hawkeyes 35 14 0 10 59 Date: November 9 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 1:05 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 66,120 Game weather: ~45 °F (7 °C), Cloudy, rain, Wind NE 10–15 mph (16–24 km/h) Referee: Otho Kortz

Scoring summary 1 11:54 IOWA R. Smith 49-yard pass from Chuck Long (Rob Houghtlin kick) IOWA 7-0 1 10:16 IOWA Hudson 1-yard run (Houghtlin kick) IOWA 14-0 1 7:28 IOWA R. Smith 43-yard pass from Long (Houghtlin kick) IOWA 21-0 1 4:36 IOWA Ronnie Harmon 46-yard run (Houghtlin kick) IOWA 28-0 1 0:59 IOWA Hudson 10-yard run (Houghtlin kick) IOWA 35-0 2 5:16 IOWA Flagg 1-yard pass from Long (Houghtlin kick) IOWA 42-0 2 2:31 IOWA Helverson 9-yard pass from Long (Houghtlin kick) IOWA 49-0 4 13:12 IOWA Rob Houghtlin 37-yard field goal IOWA 52-0 4 8:21 IOWA Goodman 16-yard run (Houghtlin kick) IOWA 59-0

^[9]

Vs. Army (Peach Bowl)

Illinois vs. Army

1 2 3 4 Total Fighting Illini 3 13 7 6 29 • Cadets 7 14 7 3 31 Date: December 31 Location: Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia Game attendance: 29,857 TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and Steve Davis

^[10]

References