1967 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1967 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record4–6 (3–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorEllis Rainsberger (1st season)
MVPJohn Wright
CaptainRon Bess, Ken Kmiec
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1966
1968 →
1967 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Indiana + 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
Minnesota + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 9 Purdue + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Ohio State 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Illinois 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Michigan 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Michigan State 3 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Northwestern 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Iowa 0 – 6 – 1 1 – 8 – 1
Wisconsin 0 – 6 – 1 0 – 9 – 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1967 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1967 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Jim Valek, the Illini compiled a 4–6 record and finished in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten Conference.[1]

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Dean Volkman with 1,005 passing yards, running back Rich Johnson with 768 rushing yards, and wide receiver John Wright with 698 receiving yards.[2] Wright was selected as the team's most valuable player.[3]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 23at Florida*
L 0–1457,391[4]
September 30Pittsburgh*
W 34–651,251
October 7Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 7–2053,550
October 14Minnesota
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 7–1056,103
October 21Notre Dame*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 7–4771,227
October 28at Ohio State
W 17–1383,928
November 4No. 6 Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 9–4261,262
November 11Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 14–2144,236[5]
November 18at Northwestern
W 27–2136,679
November 25at Iowa
W 21–1935,714
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

This was the first season since 1952 in which Illinois faced Iowa, following the chaos of their last matchup.[6]

References

  1. ^ "1967 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "1967 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  4. ^ "Florida tumbles Illinois, 14–0". The Pantagraph. September 24, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Curt Sylvester (November 12, 1967). "U-M Comes to Life for 21-14 Win". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 20C – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Dochterman, Scott (June 11, 2011). "Special report: How pass interference, a jawbreaker and tossed apples nearly canned the Iowa-Illinois football rivalry". The Gazette. Retrieved October 13, 2017.


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