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2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionLeaders Division
2011 record7–6 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coachRon Zook
(7th season, fired November 27)
Vic Koenning
(interim)
Offensive coordinatorPaul Petrino (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorVic Koenning (2nd season)
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
(Capacity: 60,670)
Seasons
← 2010
2012 →
2011 Big Ten football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Legends
#11 Michigan State xy   7 1         11 3  
#12 Michigan   6 2         11 2  
#24 Nebraska   5 3         9 4  
Iowa   4 4         7 6  
Northwestern   3 5         6 7  
Minnesota   2 6         3 9  
Leaders
#10 Wisconsin xy   6 2         11 3  
Penn State   0* 2         0* 4  
Purdue   4 4         7 6  
Ohio State   3 5         6 7  
Illinois   2 6         7 6  
Indiana   0 8         1 11  
Championship: Wisconsin 42, Michigan State 39
† – BCS representative as champion
‡ – BCS at-large representative
x – Division champion/co-champions
y – Championship game participant

The 2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini, who were led during the regular season by seventh-year head coach Ron Zook, are members of the Big Ten Conference in the Legends Division and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. Zook was fired after the team lost the final six games of its regular season.[1] Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning was appointed as interim head coach led the team in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. On December 9, Illinois hired Tim Beckman as their new permanent head coach.

The Illini set a record that season, becoming the first NCAA FBS team to start their season off 6–0, but finish 6–6. All of their six losses came against Big Ten Conference opponents.

Before the team's appearance in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, nearly all of their assistant coaches were fired, as well as head coach Ron Zook.

The 2011 season ended with a 7–6 overall record, 2–6 in Big Ten play to finish 5th in Leaders Division, with a victory over UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 32:30 PMArkansas State*BTNW 33–1545,154[2]
September 1011:00 AMSouth Dakota State*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 56–342,212[2]
September 176:00 PMNo. 22 Arizona State*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 17–1450,843[2]
September 242:30 PMWestern Michigan*No. 24
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 23–2043,684[2]
October 111:00 AMNorthwesterndaggerNo. 22
ESPN2W 38–3553,243[2]
October 81:30 PMat IndianaNo. 19BTNW 41–2041,665[2]
October 152:30 PMOhio StateNo. 16
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (Illibuck)
ABC/ESPNL 7–1755,229[2]
October 2211:00 AMat PurdueNo. 23ESPN2L 14–2145,146[2]
October 292:30 PMat No. 19 Penn StateABC/ESPN2L 7–1097,828[3]
November 122:30 PMNo. 22 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ABC/ESPNL 14–3160,670[2]
November 1911:00 AMNo. 15 Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ESPN2L 17–2854,633[2]
November 262:30 PMat MinnesotaBTNL 7–2741,549[2]
December 3112:30 PMvs. UCLA*ESPNW 20–1429,878[4]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries[]

Arkansas State[]

Arkansas State at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Arkansas State 0 8 0 7 15
Illinois 7 10 13 3 33

Illinois opened the year at home for the first time since 2006. The opener was the first of eight home games for the Illini. After a slow start and falling behind 8–7 with 2:50 left in the 2nd quarter, the Illini scored a touchdown and a late field goal to take a 17 8 halftime lead. The offense continued to roll in the 2nd half as Illinois extended the lead to win the contest 33 15.

Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase led the Illini offense, finishing 16 for 23 on pass attempts totaling in 267 yards and two touchdowns. A.J. Jenkins was a favorite target for Scheelhaase, grabbing 11 receptions for 148 yards and 1 TD. Darius Millines also hauled in a TD and finished with 119 yards on 5 receptions. Jason Ford led the rushing attack with 86 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns.

South Dakota State[]

South Dakota State at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
South Dakota State 0 3 0 0 3
Illinois 21 14 14 7 56

Arizona State[]

Arizona State at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
#22 Arizona State 7 0 0 7 14
Illinois 10 0 0 7 17

Western Michigan[]

Western Michigan at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Western Michigan 3 10 0 7 20
#24 Illinois 7 3 10 3 23

Northwestern[]

Northwestern at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Northwestern 0 14 14 7 35
#24 Illinois 7 3 7 21 38

[5]

Indiana[]

Illinois at Indiana
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
#19 Illinois 14 13 7 7 41
Indiana 10 3 0 7 20

Ohio State[]

Ohio State at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Ohio State 3 0 7 7 17
#16 Illinois 0 0 0 7 7

Purdue[]

Illinois at Purdue
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
#23 Illinois 0 0 0 14 14
Purdue 7 14 0 0 21

[6]

Penn State[]

Illinois at Penn State
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Illinois 0 0 7 0 7
#19 Penn State 0 0 0 10 10

Michigan[]

Michigan at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
#22 Michigan 7 7 3 14 31
Illinois 0 0 7 7 14

Wisconsin[]

Wisconsin at Illinois
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Wisconsin 0 7 14 7 28
Illinois 0 17 0 0 17

Minnesota[]

Illinois at Minnesota
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Illinois 0 0 7 0 7
Minnesota 0 20 7 0 27

UCLA (Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl)[]

Illinois at Bruins
by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total
Illinois 0 3 7 10 20
Bruins 0 7 0 7 14

The Bruins, with a losing record, were granted a waiver to play in a bowl game by the NCAA on November 30, 2011 since their seventh loss was played in the post-season Pac-12 Championship Game.[7] The Bruins were coached by interim head coach Mike Johnson, who replaced Rick Neuheisel.

Second Quarter scoring: UCLA – Taylor Embree 16-yard pass from Kevin Prince (Tyler Gonzalez kick); ILL – Derek Dimke 36-yard field goal

Third Quarter scoring: ILL – T. Hawthorne 39-yard interception return (Dimke kick)

Fourth Quarter scoring: ILL – Dimke 37-yard field goal; ILL – A. J. Jenkins 60-yard pass from N. Scheelhaase (Dimke kick); UCLA – Nelson Rosario 38-yard pass from Prince (Gonzalez kick)

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP NR NR NR 24 24 19 16 23 RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 
Coaches' NR NR NR RV 22 16 15 21 RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 
Harris Not released 14 20 RV NR NR NR NR NR NR Not released 
BCS Not released 23 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR Not released


References[]

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