1942 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1942 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record6–4 (3–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPElmer Engel
CaptainJimmy Smith
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1941
1943 →
1942 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Ohio State $ 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
No. 3 Wisconsin 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 1
No. 9 Michigan 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Illinois 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Iowa 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
No. 19 Minnesota 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Indiana 2 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Purdue 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1942 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1942 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first season under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 6–4 record and finished in a tie for third place in the Big Ten Conference.[1] End Elmer Engel was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

Illinois was ranked at No. 11 (out of 590 college and military teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1942.[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 26South Dakota*
W 46–07,500
October 3Butler*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 67–010,000
October 10Minnesota
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 20–1324,276
October 17at No. 19 IowaNo. 5
W 12–725,600
October 24No. 8 Notre Dame*No. 5
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 14–2143,476
October 31at No. 13 MichiganNo. 12
L 14–2833,826
November 7at NorthwesternNo. 20
W 14–735,300
November 14vs. No. 10 Ohio StateNo. 13
L 20–4468,586
November 21Great Lakes Navy*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 0–610,856[4]
November 28at Camp Grant*
W 20–05,000[5]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1942 NCAA football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes
Week
Poll1234567Final
AP5 (18)5 (1)122013———

References

  1. ^ "1942 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. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 16, 1942). "Litkenhous Rates Georgia No. 1, Ohio State No. 2". Twin City Sentinel. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Sweiger Score Tips Illini, 6-0". Minneapolis Sunday Tribune and Star Journal. November 22, 1942. p. 29 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Vaughan, Irving (November 29, 1942). "Illinois Beats Camp Grant by 20 to 0 Margin". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. B2.