1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

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1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
APNo. 15
Record5–4–1 (3–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPBuddy Young
CaptainGame captains
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1943
1945 →
1944 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Ohio State $ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 0 – 0
No. 8 Michigan 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Purdue 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 2 – 1 5 – 3 – 1
Indiana 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
No. 15 Illinois 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 5 – 1 1 – 7 – 1
Iowa 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 5–3–1 record, were ranked #15 in the final AP Poll, and finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Conference. The team lost three games to teams ranked in the top 10 in the AP Poll: #9-ranked Notre Dame (7–13); #8-ranked Michigan (0–14); and #2-ranked Ohio State (12–26).[1] Halfback Buddy Young was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

Schedule[edit]

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 16Illinois State Normal*
W 79–05,386[3]
September 23Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 26–187,986
September 30at Great Lakes Navy*
T 26–2625,000[4]
October 7Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 19–3515,210
October 14IowaNo. 14
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 40–611,498
October 21at Pittsburgh*
W 39–515,000
October 28No. 1 Notre Dame*No. 14
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 7–1365,114
November 11at No. 8 MichiganNo. 10
L 0–1443,922
November 18vs. No. 4 Ohio State
L 12–2683,627
November 25at Northwestern
W 25–638,000
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings[edit]

See also: 1944 NCAA football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
Poll12345678Final
AP14—14910———15

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1944 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  3. ^ Bartlett, Charles (September 17, 1944). "Illinois Unveils Flock of Fleet Backs; Crushes Normal, 79 to 0". Chicago Tribune. p. 2:1. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Illinois Holds Bluejackets to 26 to 26 Tie". Chicago Tribune. October 1, 1944. p. II-1, II-3 – via Newspapers.com.


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