1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football
1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football
All-American Bowl, L 10–14 vs. Florida
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–5–1 (5–2–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Mackovic (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Gene Dahlquist (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Lou Tepper (1st season)
MVP	Keith Jones
Captain	Glenn Cobb, Mark McGowan
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1987 1989 →

1988 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Michigan $	7	–	0	–	1	9	–	2	–	1
Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Illinois	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	5	–	1
Iowa	4	–	1	–	3	6	–	4	–	3
No. 20 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Ohio State	2	–	5	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	5	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	6	–	2	2	–	7	–	2

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach John Mackovic, the Illini compiled a 6–5–1 record, finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference, and lost to Florida in the 1988 All-American Bowl.^[1]

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Jeff George with 2,257 passing yards, running back Keith Jones with 1,108 rushing yards, and Steve Williams with 523 receiving yards.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	Washington State*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		L 7–44	54,458
September 10	at Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		L 16–21	70,091
September 17	Utah*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 35–24	54,002
October 1	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 31–12	90,274
October 8	Purdue	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 20–0	63,473
October 15	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 34–6	57,886
October 22	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		L 21–28	65,771
October 29	at Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		T 27–27	40,554
November 5	No. 20 Indiana	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 21–20	66,201
November 12	at No. 13 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)		L 9–38	105,714
November 19	Northwestern	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 14–9	43,329
December 29	vs. Florida*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (All-American Bowl)	ESPN	L 10–14	48,218	^[3]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1988 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`2`	Mike Bellamy	Jr
QB	`11`	Jeff George	So
RB	`29`	Howard Griffith	So
TE	`82`	Frank Hartley	So
RB	`36`	Keith Jones	Sr
C	`53`	Tim Scully	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`96`	Mel Agee	So
LB	`48`	Darrick Brownlow	So
DT	`95`	Moe Gardner	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

John Mackovic

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

References

^ "1988 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
^ "1988 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
^ "Smith's TDs lift Gators". Birmingham Post-Herald. December 30, 1988. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.