The 1982 Big Ten Conference football season was the 87th season of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the

1982 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season was the last for Paul "Bear" Bryant as head coach at Alabama, retiring with in The Penn State Nittany Lions won their first consensus national championship, closing out an season by defeating Georgia ...

. The 1982 Big Ten champion was Michigan. The Wolverines lost two of their first three games, then won seven consecutive games before losing to Ohio State and also losing to UCLA in the

1983 Rose Bowl The 1983 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on January 1, 1983. It was the 69th Rose Bowl Game. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 24–14, in a bowl rematch of a regular season game, also won by UCLA. ...

. Michigan wide receiver

Anthony Carter Anthony or Tony Carter may refer to: Sports American football *Anthony Carter (American football) (born 1960), wide receiver * Tony Carter (running back) (born 1972), American football player * Tony Carter (cornerback) (born 1986), American footba ...

received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the conference's most valuable player.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1982 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1982 season
PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game

Pre-season

Regular season

Bowl games

Five Big Ten teams played in bowl games as follows: * Michigan lost to UCLA, 24-14, in the

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. * Ohio State defeated BYU, 47-17, in the

1982 Holiday Bowl The 1982 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 17, 1982, in San Diego, California. It was part of the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the 17th ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, and the unranked BYU Cougars. ...

in San Diego. * Iowa defeated Tennessee, 28-22, in the

1982 Peach Bowl The 1982 Peach Bowl, part of the 1982–83 bowl season, took place on December 31, 1982, at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The competing teams were the Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that re ...

in Atlanta. * Illinois lost to Alabama, 21-15, in the 1982 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee. * Wisconsin defeated Kansas State, 14-3, in the

1982 Independence Bowl The 1982 Independence Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Kansas State Wildcats at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 11, 1982. The game was the final contest of t ...

, in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

Statistical leaders

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

Passing yards

1. Tony Eason, Illinois (3,248)
2. Sandy Schwab, Northwestern (2,735)
3. Scott Campbell, Purdue (2,626)
4. Babe Laufenberg, Indiana (2,468)
5. Mike Hohensee, Minnesota (2,380)

Rushing yards

1. Tim Spencer, Ohio State (1,538)
2. Lawrence Ricks, Michigan (1,388)
3. Mel Gray, Purdue (916)
4. Eddie Phillips, Iowa (772)
5. Ricky Edwards, Northwestern (688)

Receiving yards

1. Mike Martin, Illinois (941)
2.

, Michigan (844)
3. Jon Harvey, Northwestern (807)
4. Duane Gunn, Indiana (764)
5. Cliff Benson, Purdue (762)

Total offense

1. Tony Eason, Illinois (3,258)
2. Sandy Schwab, Northwestern (2,555)
3. Scott Campbell, Purdue (2,508)
4. Mike Hohensee, Minnesota (2,418)
5. Babe Laufenberg, Indiana (2,351)

Passing efficiency rating

1. Tony Eason, Illinois (128.2)
2. Mike Tomczak, Ohio State (125.7)
3. Steve Smith, Michigan (125.1)
4. Chuck Long, Iowa (124.8)
5. Babe Laufenberg, Indiana (118.8)

Rushing yards per attempt

1. Troy King, Wisconsin (7.2)
2. Tony Hunter, Minnesota (5.7)
3. Tim Spencer, Ohio State (5.6)
4. Lawrence Ricks, Michigan (5.2)
5. Owen Gill, Iowa (5.1)

Yards per reception

1. Duane Gunn, Indiana (21.8)
2. Anthony Carter, Michigan (19.6)
3. John Boyd, Indiana (18.9)
4. Gary Williams, Ohio State (17.2)
5. Lonnie Farrow, Minnesota (16.6)

Points scored

1. Mike Bass, Illinois (101)
2. Tim Spencer, Ohio State (90)
3. Ali Haji-Sheikh, Michigan (77)
4. Rich Spangler, Ohio State (68)
5.

Jim Gallery James Patrick Gallery (born September 15, 1961) is a former American football Placekicker, Kicker in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (NFL), St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings. ...

, Minnesota (61)

All-conference players

All-Americans

1983 NFL Draft

The

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York She ...

was held in April 1983. The following Big Ten players were selected in the first five rounds of the draft:

References

{{Big Ten Conference football navbox