The 1983 Big Ten Conference football season was the 88th 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 The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and was a part of the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 1983 Big Ten champion was

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The Illini compiled a 10-2 record (9-0 against Big Ten opponents). They were led quarterback

Jack Trudeau Jack Francis Trudeau (born September 9, 1962) is a former professional American football player and morning show co-host on Fox Sports Radio. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 1986 NFL Draft. A quarterback from ...

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.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

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

Pre-season

Regular season

Bowl games

Four Big Ten teams played in bowl games as follows: * Ohio State defeated

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, 28-23, in the 1984 Fiesta Bowl in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

* Illinois lost to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, 45-9, in the 1984 Rose Bowl in

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 ...

* Michigan lost to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, 9-7, in the 1984 Sugar Bowl in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

* Iowa lost to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, 14-6, in the 1983 Gator Bowl in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

Statistical leaders

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

Passing yards

, Illinois (2,446)
2.

Chuck Long Charles Franklin Long Jr. (born February 18, 1963) is a former American football player and coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Renegades of the XFL. He played quarterback in college at Iowa for Hayden F ...

, Iowa (2,434)
3. Randy Wright, Wisconsin (2,329)
4.

Steve Bradley Steven James Bisson (December 10, 1975 – December 4, 2008) was an American professional wrestler who wrestled under the ring name Steve Bradley. He competed in various North American independent promotions as well as spending over three years ...

, Indiana (2,298)
5. Scott Campbell, Purdue (2,031)

Rushing yards

Keith Byars Keith Alan Byars (born October 14, 1963) is an American sports broadcaster and former American football fullback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. Early life ...

, Ohio State (1,199)
2.

Rick Rogers Rick Rogers (born March 26, 1963) is an American former college football player who was a running back. He grew up in Inkster, Michigan, and attended Wayne Memorial High School. He played at the University of Michigan for the Wolverines from 1 ...

, Michigan (1,002)
3. Mel Gray, Purdue (849)
4. Thomas Rooks, Illinois (842)
5. Gary Ellerson, Wisconsin (777)

Receiving yards

1. Dave Moritz, Iowa (912)
2.

Al Toon Albert Lee Toon Jr. (born April 30, 1963) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. A two-time First-team All-Big Ten pick at the Univers ...

, Wisconsin (881)
3. David Williams, Illinois (870)
4. Duane Gunn, Indiana (815)
5. Len Kenebrew, Indiana (687)

Total offense

1. Randy Wright, Wisconsin (2,418)
2.

, Indiana (2,406)
3.

, Iowa (2,404)
4.

, Illinois (2,353)
5.

Mike Tomczak Michael John Tomczak (born October 23, 1962) is a former American football player. Tomczak played quarterback for several NFL teams from 1985 through 1999, including the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsb ...

, Ohio State (2,192)

Passing efficiency rating

, Iowa (160.4)
2.

, Illinois (136.4)
3.

, Ohio State (131.2)
4.

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

, Michigan (123.0)
5. Randy Wright, Wisconsin (122.4)

Rushing yards per attempt

, Michigan (6.5)
2. Eric Jordan, Purdue (6.4)
3.

Owen Gill Owen Gill (born February 19, 1962) is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League. He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2nd round (53rd overall pick) of the 1985 NFL Draft out of ...

, Iowa (6.0)
4.

, Ohio State (5.4)
5. Thomas Rooks, Illinois (5.4)

Yards per reception

Ronnie Harmon Ronnie Keith Harmon (born May 7, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). After a standout career at the University of Iowa in the Big Ten Conference, he played for 12 ...

, Iowa (22.0)
2. Cedric Anderson, Ohio State (20.2)
3.

Daryl Turner Daryl Turner is a former professional American football player that played wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks in the National Football League for four years. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans. Early life Turner atte ...

, Michigan State (19.6)
4.

, Wisconsin (19.6)
5. Dave Moritz, Iowa (18.2)

Points scored

, Ohio State (132)
2. Tom Nichol, Iowa (80)
3. Chris White, Illinois (78)
4.

Bob Bergeron Robert Damian Bergeron (born November 7, 1961) is a former American football placekicker. He grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and attended Bishop Luers High School. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1984. He w ...

, Michigan (76)
5. Gary Ellerson, Wisconsin (66)
5. Thomas Rooks, Illinois (66)

All-conference players

All-Americans

1984 NFL Draft

The

1984 NFL Draft The 1984 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 May 1–2, 1984, at the Omni Park Cent ...

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

References

{{Big Ten Conference football navbox