1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign during the 1982 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Mike White, the Illini compiled a 6–5 record, finished in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference, and lost to Alabama in the 1982 Liberty Bowl, which was Hall of Famer Bear Bryant's final game as Alabama's head coach.[1]

1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Liberty Bowl, L 15–21 vs. Alabama
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1982 record	7–5 (6–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Mike White (3rd season)
MVP	Tony Eason
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1982 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Michigan $	8	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Iowa	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin	5	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Indiana	4	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Michigan State	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Minnesota	1	–	8	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Tony Eason with 3,248 passing yards, running back Dwight Beverly with 390 rushing yards, and wide receiver Mike Martin with 941 receiving yards.[2] Eason was selected as the team's most valuable player.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 4	Northwestern		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	W 49–13
September 11	Michigan State		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 23–16
September 18	at Syracuse*		Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	W 47–10
September 25	No. 3 Pittsburgh*	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 3–20
October 2	at No. 19 Minnesota		H.H.H. Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	W 42–24
October 9	Purdue	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Purdue Cannon)	W 38–34
October 16	Ohio State	No. 15	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	L 21–26
October 23	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 29–28
October 30	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 13–14
November 6	No. 15 Michigan		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 10–16
November 13	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	W 48–7
December 29	vs. Alabama*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	L 15–21
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1982 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 3 Tony Eason Sr C 55 Adam Lingner Sr RB 42 Thomas Rooks Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Mike White Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "1982 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
2. "1982 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.