The 1990 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team that represented the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach

John Mackovic John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach of the Italy national American football team, which was formed to compete in the EFAF European Championship. Previously, Mackovic served as the he ...

, the Illini compiled an 8–4 record, finished in a four-way tie for first place in 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 ...

, were ranked #25 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 broad ...

, and lost to Clemson in the

1991 Hall of Fame Bowl The 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl featured the fourteenth-ranked Clemson Tigers and the sixteenth-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. It was the fifth edition of the Hall of Fame Bowl. Clemson's Chris Gardocki kicked an 18-yard field goal as the Tigers b ...

. The team's offensive leader were quarterback

Jason Verduzco Jason A. Verduzco (born April 3, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. He played college football at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Early years ...

with 2,567 passing yards, fullback Howard Griffith with 1,115 rushing yards, and Shawn Wax with 863 receiving yards.

Schedule

The non conference games for the Fighting Illini were against Arizona, Colorado and Southern Illinois.

Game summaries

Colorado

Iowa

Michigan

Indiana

Northwestern

Clemson (Hall of Fame Bowl)

Roster

Award winners

Darrick Brownlow Darrick Dewayne Brownlow (born December 28, 1968) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University of Illin ...

- linebacker (1st-team All-America pick by ''Football News''; 1st-team all-Big Ten pick by AP) *

Moe Gardner Morris "Moe" Gardner Jr. (born August 10, 1968) is a former American football defensive tackle. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons (1991–1996). Moe Gardner graduated from Cathedral High Sch ...

- defensive lineman (consensus 1st-team All-American; 1st-team all-Big Ten pick by AP) * Howard Griffith - fullback (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP) * Doug Higgins - placekicker (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP) * Henry Jones - defensive back (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP) * Marlon Primous - defensive back (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP) * Tim Simpson -offensive guard (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP) * Shawn Wax - receiver (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)

References

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

Illinois Fighting Illini football seasons

Illinois Fighting Illini football The Illinois Fighting Illini football program represents the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. The Fighting Illini are a founding member of ...

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