1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Liberty Bowl champion
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGreg Landry (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorDenny Marcin (3rd season)
MVPDana Howard
Captains
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
1994 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Penn State $ 8 – 0 – 0 12 – 0 – 0
No. 14 Ohio State 6 – 2 – 0 9 – 4 – 0
Wisconsin 5 – 2 – 1 8 – 3 – 1
No. 12 Michigan 5 – 3 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Illinois 4 – 4 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Purdue 3 – 3 – 2 5 – 4 – 2
Iowa 3 – 4 – 1 5 – 5 – 1
Indiana 3 – 5 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Northwestern 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 1
Minnesota 1 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Michigan State † 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 11 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • † Michigan State forfeited 5 wins including 4 conference victories, over Wisconsin, Indiana, Northwestern, and Purdue.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach Lou Tepper, the Fighting Illini compiled a 7–5 record (4–4 in conference games), finished in fifth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 279 to 156. They concluded the season in the 1994 Liberty Bowl, defeating East Carolina by a 30–0 score.[1]

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Johnny Johnson (2,245 passing yards), running back Ty Douthard (713 rushing yards), wide receiver Jason Dulick (679 receiving yards), and kicker Chris Richardson (73 points scored, 31 of 32 extra points, 12 of 16 field goals).[2]

The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Its game against Washington State at Soldier Field was its first game in Chicago since the Chicago Maroons football's final game as a major Big Ten football program in the 1939 Big Ten Conference football season.[3][4][5]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 17:30 pmvs. Washington State*No. 22
L 9–1039,472
September 101:00 pmMissouri*
W 42–064,305
September 171:00 pmNorthern Illinois*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 34–1055,327
October 11:00 pmPurdueNo. 25
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 16–2258,338
October 82:30 pmat No. 17 Ohio State
ABCW 24–1093,351
October 151:00 pmIowa
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 47–759,573
October 222:30 pmNo. 11 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
ABCL 14–1972,677
October 291:00 pmat Northwestern
W 28–740,365
November 51:30 pmat Minnesota
W 21–1735,069
November 122:30 pmNo. 2 Penn State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ABCL 31–3572,364
November 192:30 pmat Wisconsin
ABCL 13–1977,745
December 3112:00 pmvs. East Carolina*
ESPNW 30–033,280[6]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[7]

Roster

1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
OT 73 Ken Blackman Jr
TE 86 Matt Cushing Fr
TE 87 Ken Dilger Sr
QB 13 Johnny Johnson Jr
RB 38 George McDonald Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 51 Kevin Hardy Jr
LB 52 John Holecek Sr
DE 97 Simeon Rice Jr
CB 29 Scott Turner Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Roster

1995 NFL draft

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Ken Dilger Tight end 2 48 Indianapolis Colts

References

  1. ^ "1994 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
  2. ^ "1994 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
  3. ^ Charles Bartlett (November 26, 1939). "Illinois Finds Par Against the Maroons Is 46: Chicago Winds Up Season with Another Zero". Chicago Tribune. p. II-1. Retrieved January 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Chicago U. Drops Football From Intercollegiate Sports Program; Action of Maroons May Be First Step Bowing Out Big Ten". Lincoln Evening Journal. December 22, 1939. p. 9. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  5. ^ Rodriguez, Raul (September 11, 2018). "A look back at the Illini's Underwhelming History at Soldier Field". SB Nation. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  6. ^ "Illini leave East Carolina in a daze". The News and Observer. January 1, 1995. Retrieved March 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "1994 Illinois Football Schedule". College Football Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
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