1983 Big Ten Conference football season

1983 Big Ten Conference football season
LeagueNCAA Division I-A
SportFootball
Number of teams10
Top draft pickCarl Banks
ChampionIllinois
  Runners-upOhio State
Season MVPDon Thorp
Top scorerKeith Byars
Football seasons
← 1982
1984 →
1983 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Illinois $ 9 – 0 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 8 Michigan 8 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 14 Iowa 7 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 9 Ohio State 6 – 3 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Wisconsin 5 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Purdue 3 – 5 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
Michigan State 2 – 6 – 1 4 – 6 – 1
Indiana 2 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Northwestern 2 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Minnesota 0 – 9 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Big Ten Conference football season was the 88th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1983 Big Ten champion was Illinois. The Illini compiled a 10-2 record (9-0 against Big Ten opponents). They were led quarterback Jack Trudeau with 2,446 passing yards, running back Thomas Rooks with 842 rushing yards, and wide receiver David Williams with 870 receiving yards. The 1983 Illini are the only Big Ten team to go 9-0 in regular season conference play, until Wisconsin went 9-0 in 2017.[1]

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG
1 Illinois Mike White #10 #4 10–2 9–0 28.9 17.8
2 Michigan Bo Schembechler #8 #6 9–3 8–1 29.6 13.3
3 Iowa Hayden Fry #14 #4 9–3 7–2 31.7 15.8
4 Ohio State Earle Bruce #9 #3 9–3 6–3 34.2 17.2
5 Wisconsin Dave McClain NR NR 7–4 5–4 32.6 22.0
6 Purdue Leon Burtnett NR NR 3–7–1 3–5–1 22.8 33.3
7 Michigan State George Perles NR NR 4–6–1 2–6–1 14.7 21.2
8 (tie) Indiana Sam Wyche NR NR 3–8 2–7 18.3 32.7
8 (tie) Northwestern Dennis Green NR NR 2–9 2–7 9.2 36.2
10 Minnesota Joe Salem NR NR 1–10 0–9 16.5 47.1

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1983 season[2]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1983 season[2]
PPG = Average of points scored per game[2]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[2]

Pre-season

Regular season

Bowl games

Four Big Ten teams played in bowl games as follows:

Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders include the following:[2]

All-conference players

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1983 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1983 College Football All-America Team.

1984 NFL Draft

The 1984 NFL draft was held May 1–2, 1984. The following Big Ten players were selected in the first round of the draft:[3]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Carl Banks Linebacker Michigan State 1 3
John Alt Offensive tackle Iowa 1 21
William Roberts Guard Ohio State 1 27

References

  1. ^ "2021 College Football Standings".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "1983 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "1984 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2016.