2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Ron Zook. The Illini played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. This was Zook's fourth season as the Illini head coach.

2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–7 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Locksley (4th season)
Offensive schemeSpread option
Co-defensive coordinatorDan Disch (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinatorCurt Mallory (2nd season)
Captains
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
(Capacity: 62,870)
2008 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 8 Penn State $+  7 –1   11 –2  
No. 9 Ohio State %+  7 –1   10 –3  
No. 24 Michigan State  6 –2   9 –4  
Northwestern  5 –3   9 –4  
No. 20 Iowa  5 –3   9 –4  
Wisconsin  3 –5   7 –6  
Minnesota  3 –5   7 –6  
Illinois  3 –5   5 –7  
Purdue  2 –6   4 –8  
Michigan  2 –6   3 –9  
Indiana  1 –7   3 –9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 307:30 PM[1]vs. No. 6 Missouri*No. 20
ESPN[1]L 42–5266,441
September 611:00 AM[2]No. 19 (FCS) Eastern Illinois*No. 24
BTN[2]W 47–2160,131[3]
September 1311:00 AM[2]Louisiana–Lafayette*No. 24
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTN[2]W 20–1758,632
September 277:00 PM[4]at No. 12 Penn StateNo. 22
ABC[4]L 24–38109,626
October 42:30 PM[5]at Michigan
ABC/ESPN2[5]W 45–20109,750
October 1111:00 AM[6]Minnesotadagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ESPN[6]L 20–2762,870
October 187:00 PM[7]Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTN[7]W 55–1362,870
October 2511:00 AM[8]at Wisconsin
ESPN2[8]L 17–2781,241
November 12:30 PMIowa
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ABC/ESPNW 27–2462,870
November 811:00 AM[9]vs. Western Michigan*
ESPN+L 17–2312,865
November 1512:00 PMNo. 10 Ohio State
ESPNL 20–3062,870
November 222:30 PMat Northwestern
BTNL 10–2732,166
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Missouri
See also: 2008 Missouri Tigers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 6 7 15 14 42
Tigers 7 24 14 7 52

Eastern Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 7 0 0 14 21
Fighting Illini 7 19 14 7 47

Louisiana-Lafayette
1 2 3 4 Total
Ragin' Cajuns 3 0 0 14 17
Fighting Illini 10 7 0 3 20

In the first quarter, Matt Eller kicked a 51-yard field goal. Brit Miller recovered Michael Desormeaux's fumble for a 27-yard touchdown. Drew Edmiston kicked a 24-yard field goal for Louisiana-Lafayette. Juice Williams passed to Daniel Dufrene for a 10-yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter.

In the second half, Desormeaux rushed for a 34-yard touchdown and passed to Erick Jones for an 11-yard touchdown. Matt Eller kicked a 27-yard field goal for the Fighting Illini.

Penn State

The Illini lost on the road to the Nittany Lions 38–24 in a nationally-televised, prime time, "White Out" game at Beaver Stadium. Illinois jumped out to a 14–7 lead, becoming the first team to take a lead on the Nittany Lions and the first to score points against them in the first quarter this season. However, the Nittany Lions responded with two touchdowns en route to a 21–14 halftime lead. The Illini wouldn't score again until kicking a field goal on the final play of the third quarter after recovering a Stephfon Green fumble, but Derrick Williams returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.

The loss was head coach Ron Zook’s first as a head coach against a ranked opponent. The Illini's 24 points were the most allowed by Penn State this season as were their 189 total rushing yards.[10]

Penn State wide receiver Derrick Williams became the first player under PSU head coach Joe Paterno to score a rushing, a receiving, and a kick return touchdown in the same game.[10][11] Williams was selected the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.[12]

See also: 2008 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 14 0 3 7 24
Nittany Lions 14 7 3 14 38

Michigan
See also: 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 3 14 7 21 45
Wolverines 14 0 0 6 20

Minnesota
See also: 2008 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Gophers 7 0 7 13 27
Fighting Illini 0 3 3 14 20

Indiana
See also: 2008 Indiana Hoosiers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Hoosiers 7 0 3 3 13
Fighting Illini 14 14 13 14 55

Wisconsin
See also: 2008 Wisconsin Badgers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 0 10 7 0 17
Badgers 3 7 7 10 27

The Fighting Illini fell to the Badgers 27–17 for Wisconsin's first Big Ten win of the year. The Badgers outscored Illinois 17–7 in the second half.

Iowa
See also: 2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Hawkeyes 0 6 3 15 24
Fighting Illini 7 3 7 10 27

Western Michigan
See also: 2008 Western Michigan Broncos football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 7 0 3 7 17
Broncos 3 17 0 3 23

Ohio State
See also: 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes football team and Illibuck
1 2 3 4 Total
Buckeyes 9 14 0 7 30
Fighting Illini 7 6 0 7 20

Northwestern
See also: 2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Sweet Sioux Tomahawk
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 0 0 7 3 10
Wildcats 6 7 3 11 27

Rankings
See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP2024242222RVRV——————————
Coaches1925RV2321RVRV—RV—RV——————
HarrisNot releasedRVRVRV———————Not released
BCSNot released————————Not released

References
  1. "Kick Time Changed For 2008 Opener". University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana Department of Athletics. May 22, 2008. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  2. "Game Times And Future Schedules Set For Illinois Football". University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana Department of Athletics. July 2, 2008. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  3. Durando, Stu (September 7, 2008). "Illini let Juice run loose". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. D5. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Big Ten Announces Five Prime-Time Football Games to Appear on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 During 2008 Season". Big Ten Conference. April 16, 2008. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2008.
  5. "Time, Television Set for U-M Homecoming Tilt vs. Illinois". Michigan Sports Information. May 12, 2008. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
  6. "Illinois Homecoming Game Time Set". University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana Department of Athletics. May 12, 2008. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
  7. "Illinois-Indiana Game Set For Prime Time". Illinois Athletics. May 21, 2008. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  8. "Welcome home:Badgers, Illini kickoff set". Wisconsin Badgers Sports Report. May 10, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2008.
  9. "Illinois-WMU game time set". Illinois Athletics. June 13, 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2008.
  10. Thomas, Eric (September 29, 2008). "Not Just Getting by Anymore". The Sentinel. Carlisle. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  11. "Penn State Remains Unbeaten, Tops Illinois, 38–24". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 27, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
  12. "Michigan, Northwestern and Penn State Football Players Honored After Big Wins". Big Ten Conference. September 29, 2008. Archived from the original on October 1, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
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