American college football season
The
2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
represented the
University of Illinois at Urbana?Champaign
in the
2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
. The
Fighting Illini
, who were led during the regular season by seventh-year head coach
Ron Zook
, are members of the
Big Ten Conference
in the Legends Division and played their home games at
Memorial Stadium
. Zook was fired after the team lost the final six games of its regular season.
[1]
Defensive coordinator
Vic Koenning
was appointed as interim head coach led the team in the
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
. On December 9, Illinois hired
Tim Beckman
as their new permanent head coach.
The Illini set a record that season, becoming the first NCAA FBS team to start their season off 6?0, but finish 6?6. All of their six losses came against Big Ten Conference opponents.
Before the team's appearance in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, nearly all of their assistant coaches were fired, as well as head coach Ron Zook.
The 2011 season ended with a 7?6 overall record, 2?6 in Big Ten play to finish 5th in Leaders Division, with a victory over
UCLA
in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
Schedule
[
edit
]
Date
| Time
| Opponent
| Rank
| Site
| TV
| Result
| Attendance
|
---|
September 3
| 2:30 pm
| Arkansas State
*
| | | BTN
| W
33?15
| 45,154
[2]
|
September 10
| 11:00 am
| South Dakota State
*
| | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| BTN
| W
56?3
| 42,212
[2]
|
September 17
| 6:00 pm
| No. 22
Arizona State
*
| | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| BTN
| W
17?14
| 50,843
[2]
|
September 24
| 2:30 pm
| Western Michigan
*
| No. 24
| - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| BTN
| W
23?20
| 43,684
[2]
|
October 1
| 11:00 am
| Northwestern
![dagger](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Dagger-14-plain.png) | No. 22
| | ESPN2
| W
38?35
| 53,243
[2]
|
October 8
| 1:30 pm
| at
Indiana
| No. 19
| | BTN
| W
41?20
| 41,665
[2]
|
October 15
| 2:30 pm
| Ohio State
| No. 16
| - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL (
Illibuck
)
| ABC/ESPN
| L
7?17
| 55,229
[2]
|
October 22
| 11:00 am
| at
Purdue
| No. 23
| | ESPN2
| L
14?21
| 45,146
[2]
|
October 29
| 2:30 pm
| at No. 19
Penn State
| | | ABC/ESPN2
| L
7?10
| 97,828
[3]
|
November 12
| 2:30 pm
| No. 22
Michigan
| | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL (
rivalry
)
| ABC/ESPN
| L
14?31
| 60,670
[2]
|
November 19
| 11:00 am
| No. 15
Wisconsin
| | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| ESPN2
| L
17?28
| 54,633
[2]
|
November 26
| 2:30 pm
| at
Minnesota
| | | BTN
| L
7?27
| 41,549
[2]
|
December 31
| 12:30 pm
| vs.
UCLA
*
| | | ESPN
| W
20?14
| 29,878
[4]
|
- *Non-conference game
Homecoming
- Rankings from
AP Poll
released prior to the game
- All times are in
Central time
|
Game summaries
[
edit
]
Arkansas State
[
edit
]
Arkansas State at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
Arkansas State
|
0
|
8
| 0
| 7
|
15
|
•
Illinois
|
7
|
10
| 13
| 3
|
33
|
|
Illinois opened the year at home for the first time since 2006. The opener was the first of eight home games for the Illini. After a slow start and falling behind 8?7 with 2:50 left in the 2nd quarter, the Illini scored a touchdown and a late field goal to take a 17 8 halftime lead. The offense continued to roll in the 2nd half as Illinois extended the lead to win the contest 33 15.
Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase led the Illini offense, finishing 16 for 23 on pass attempts totaling in 267 yards and two touchdowns. A.J. Jenkins was a favorite target for Scheelhaase, grabbing 11 receptions for 148 yards and 1 TD. Darius Millines also hauled in a TD and finished with 119 yards on 5 receptions. Jason Ford led the rushing attack with 86 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns.
South Dakota State
[
edit
]
South Dakota State at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
South Dakota State
|
0
|
3
| 0
| 0
|
3
|
•
Illinois
|
21
|
14
| 14
| 7
|
56
|
|
Arizona State
[
edit
]
Arizona State at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
#22 Arizona State
|
7
|
0
| 0
| 7
|
14
|
•
Illinois
|
10
|
0
| 0
| 7
|
17
|
|
Western Michigan
[
edit
]
Western Michigan at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
Western Michigan
|
3
|
10
| 0
| 7
|
20
|
•
#24 Illinois
|
7
|
3
| 10
| 3
|
23
|
|
Northwestern
[
edit
]
Northwestern at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
Northwestern
|
0
|
14
| 14
| 7
|
35
|
•
#24 Illinois
|
7
|
3
| 7
| 21
|
38
|
|
|
Scoring summary
|
---|
| 1
| 2:28
| ILL
| A.J. Jenkins
14-yard pass from
Nathan Scheelhaase
(Derek Dimke kick)
| ILL 7-0
|
| 2
| 12:31
| NW
| Drake Dinsmore 6-yard pass from
Dan Persa
(Jeff Budzien kick)
| Tied 7-7
|
| 2
| 2:08
| NW
| Jeremy Ebert 3-yard pass from Dan Persa (Jeff Budzien kick)
| NW 14-7
|
| 2
| 0:00
| ILL
| Derek Dimke 49-yard field goal
| NW 14-10
|
| 3
| 11:42
| NW
| Jeremy Ebert 39-yard pass from Dan Persa (Jeff Budzien kick)
| NW 21-10
|
| 3
| 7:11
| NW
| Jeremy Ebert 4-yard pass from Dan Persa (Jeff Budzien kick)
| NW 28-10
|
| 3
| 3:51
| ILL
| A.J. Jenkins 33-yard pass from Nathan Scheelhaase (Derek Dimke kick)
| NW 28-17
|
| 4
| 14:53
| ILL
| A.J. Jenkins 50-yard pass from Nathan Scheelhaase (run failed)
| NW 28-23
|
| 4
| 6:53
| ILL
| Donovonn Young 1-yard run (Nathan Scheelhaase to Spencer Harris pass)
| ILL 31-28
|
| 4
| 1:15
| NW
| Jacob Schmidt 6-yard run (Jeff Budzien kick)
| NW 35-31
|
| 4
| 0:13
| ILL
| Nathan Scheelhaase 1-yard run (Derek Dimke kick)
| ILL 38-35
|
|
[5]
Indiana
[
edit
]
Illinois at Indiana
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
•
#19 Illinois
|
14
|
13
| 7
| 7
|
41
|
Indiana
|
10
|
3
| 0
| 7
|
20
|
|
Ohio State
[
edit
]
Ohio State at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
•
Ohio State
|
3
|
0
| 7
| 7
|
17
|
#16 Illinois
|
0
|
0
| 0
| 7
|
7
|
|
Purdue
[
edit
]
Illinois at Purdue
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
#23 Illinois
|
0
|
0
| 0
| 14
|
14
|
•
Purdue
|
7
|
14
| 0
| 0
|
21
|
|
[6]
Penn State
[
edit
]
Illinois at Penn State
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
Illinois
|
0
|
0
| 7
| 0
|
7
|
•
#19 Penn State
|
0
|
0
| 0
| 10
|
10
|
|
Michigan
[
edit
]
Michigan at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
•
#22 Michigan
|
7
|
7
| 3
| 14
|
31
|
Illinois
|
0
|
0
| 7
| 7
|
14
|
|
Wisconsin
[
edit
]
Wisconsin at Illinois
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
•
Wisconsin
|
0
|
7
| 14
| 7
|
28
|
Illinois
|
0
|
17
| 0
| 0
|
17
|
|
Minnesota
[
edit
]
Illinois at Minnesota
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
Illinois
|
0
|
0
| 7
| 0
|
7
|
•
Minnesota
|
0
|
20
| 7
| 0
|
27
|
|
UCLA (Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl)
[
edit
]
Illinois at Bruins
|
1
|
2
| 3
| 4
| Total
|
•
Illinois
|
0
|
3
| 7
| 10
|
20
|
Bruins
|
0
|
7
| 0
| 7
|
14
|
|
The Bruins, with a losing record, were granted a waiver to play in a bowl game by the NCAA on November 30, 2011 since their seventh loss was played in the post-season
Pac-12 Championship Game
.
[7]
The Bruins were coached by interim head coach
Mike Johnson
, who replaced
Rick Neuheisel
.
Second Quarter scoring:
UCLA ? Taylor Embree 16-yard pass from
Kevin Prince
(Tyler Gonzalez kick); ILL ? Derek Dimke 36-yard field goal
Third Quarter scoring:
ILL ? T. Hawthorne 39-yard interception return (Dimke kick)
Fourth Quarter scoring:
ILL ? Dimke 37-yard field goal; ILL ? A. J. Jenkins 60-yard pass from N. Scheelhaase (Dimke kick); UCLA ? Nelson Rosario 38-yard pass from Prince (Gonzalez kick)
Rankings
[
edit
]
Ranking movements
Legend:
??
Increase in ranking
??
Decrease in ranking
? = Not ranked RV = Received votes
| Week
|
---|
Poll
| Pre
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10
| 11
| 12
| 13
| 14
| Final
|
---|
AP
| ?
| ?
| ?
| 24
| 24
| 19
| 16
| 23
| RV
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
|
---|
Coaches
| ?
| ?
| ?
| RV
| 22
| 16
| 15
| 21
| RV
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
|
---|
Harris
| Not released
| 14
| 20
| RV
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| Not released
|
---|
BCS
| Not released
| 23
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| ?
| Not released
|
---|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Goudie, Chuck (November 28, 2011).
"Big Price Tag Attached to Zook's Firing"
.
WLS
. Chicago. Archived from
the original
on July 12, 2012
. Retrieved
November 20,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
"Cumulative Season Statistics"
.
University of Illinois Department of Athletics
. Archived from
the original
on July 25, 2013
. Retrieved
July 19,
2012
.
- ^
"Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Box Score"
.
ESPN
. October 29, 2011
. Retrieved
October 29,
2011
.
- ^
Harris, Flint (December 23, 2011).
"2011-2012 Bowl Game Attendance"
.
HolyTurf
. Retrieved
January 1,
2012
.
- ^
"Illinois Completes Comeback in Final Minute to Defeat Rival Northwestern"
.
ESPN
. October 1, 2011
. Retrieved
November 20,
2014
.
- ^
"Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Purdue Boilermakers Box Score"
.
ESPN
. October 22, 2011
. Retrieved
October 22,
2011
.
- ^
UCLA Bowl Waiver Approved By NCAA
,
UCLABruins.com
, November 30, 2011
|
---|
Venues
| |
---|
Bowls & rivalries
| |
---|
Culture & lore
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Seasons
| |
---|
National championship seasons in bold
|