2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by interim head coach Bill Cubit, and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 5–7, 2–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place in the West Division.

2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record5–7 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBill Cubit
Offensive schemeSpread
Co-defensive coordinatorTim Banks (4th season)
Co-defensive coordinatorMike Phair (1st season)
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
(Capacity: 60,670)
2015 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
East Division
No. 6 Michigan State xy$^  7 1   12 2  
No. 4 Ohio State x  7 1   12 1  
No. 12 Michigan  6 2   10 3  
Penn State  4 4   7 6  
Indiana  2 6   6 7  
Rutgers  1 7   4 8  
Maryland  1 7   3 9  
West Division
No. 9 Iowa xy  8 0   12 2  
No. 23 Northwestern  6 2   10 3  
No. 21 Wisconsin  6 2   10 3  
Nebraska  3 5   6 7  
Minnesota  2 6   6 7  
Illinois  2 6   5 7  
Purdue  1 7   2 10  
Championship: Michigan State 16, Iowa 13
  • ^ College Football Playoff participant
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

On November 28, interim head coach Bill Cubit was signed to a two-year contract and named head coach. However, on March 5, Cubit was fired by new athletic director Josh Whitman.

Head coach

On August 28, 2015—one week before the start of the regular season—head coach Tim Beckman was fired after an internal investigation found that he had made efforts "to deter injury reporting and influence medical decisions that pressured players to avoid or postpone medical treatment and continue playing despite injuries." He was replaced by offensive coordinator Bill Cubit on an interim basis for the season.[1]

A few hours before the final game of the season, Cubit had the "Interim" removed from his title and was named permanent head coach. It was an appointment that would last only one game, as Cubit was removed during the following off-season by new Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman, on the day Whitman officially assumed the role, in favor of former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith.

Schedule

Illinois announced their 2015 football schedule on June 3, 2013. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini will host Big Ten foes Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Wisconsin and will travel to Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, and Purdue.[2]

The Fighting Illini hosted three of their four non conference games against Kent State, Middle Tennessee and Western Illinois. Illinois traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and faced the North Carolina of the Atlantic Coast Conference on September 19.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 52:00 pmKent State*BTNW 52–336,693
September 1211:00 amWestern Illinois*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 44–037,733
September 1911:00 amat North Carolina*ESPN2L 14–4841,000
September 263:00 pmMiddle Tennessee*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
ESPNewsW 27–2544,366
October 33:00 pmNebraska
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 14–1340,138
October 1011:00 amat No. 22 IowaESPN2L 20–2966,693
October 242:30 pmWisconsindagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNL 13–2445,438
October 3111:00 amat Penn StateESPN2L 0–3994,417
November 711:00 amat PurdueBTNW 48–1440,197
November 1411:00 amNo. 3 Ohio State
ABCL 3–2851,515
November 2111:00 amat MinnesotaESPNewsL 23–3247,976
November 282:30 pmNo. 17 Northwestern
ESPNUL 14–2433,514
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game
  • All times are in Central time
Schedule Source:[3]

Roster

2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 2 Reggie Corbin Fr
QB 3 Jeff George, Jr. Fr
WR 4 Dionte Taylor Jr
RB 5 Ke'Shawn Vaughn Fr
RB 6 Josh Ferguson  Sr
QB 7 Chayce Crouch  Fr
WR 8 Geronimo Allison Sr
WR 9 Sam Mays Fr
QB 10 Jimmy Fitzgerald Fr
WR 11 Malik Turner So
QB 12 Wes Lunt  Jr
TE 13 Caleb Reams Fr
QB 14 Alex Mussat Fr
WR 15 Tyrin Stone-Davis  Jr
WR 16 Marchie Murdock  So
WR 18 Mike Dudek So
WR 19 Justin Hardee Sr
WR 21 Man Berg  So
RB 23 Henry Enyenihi  Sr
RB 25 Kendrick Foster  So
RB 26 Cameron Tucker  Sr
RB 27 Dre Brown Fr
TE 30 Jim Nudera  Sr
WR 31 Leslie Poole  Sr
TE 39 Nathan Echard  So
TE 42 Chris Royer Fr
TE 47 Tim Clary  Sr
OL 52 Adam Solomon Fr
OL 53 Nick Allegretti  Fr
OL 55 Chris Boles  Sr
OL 57 Austin Schmidt Jr
OL 63 Mike Parisi Fr
OL 64 Jack Broeker Fr
OL 66 Jordan Fagan So
OL 67 Christian DiLauro  So
OL 68 Matt Long Fr
OL 69 Ted Karras  Sr
OL 70 Max Marietti Fr
OL 71 Joe Spencer  Jr
OL 72 Gabe Megginson Fr
OL 73 Chris O'Connor  Sr
OL 74 Connor Brennan Jr
OL 75 Pat Flavin  Sr
OL 76 Zeke Martin Fr
OL 78 Harry Black Jr
OL 79 Zach Heath Jr
TE 80 Ainslie Johnson Jr
WR 81 Raphael Barr  So
WR 82 Kameron Fry  Jr
TE 83 Bobby Walker Fr
WR 84 Jordan Hahn  So
WR 86 Desmond Cain Fr
TE 87 Tyler White Jr
WR 88 Zach Grant  Jr
TE 89 Andrew Davis Jr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 2 V'Angelo Bentley Sr
DB 3 Taylor Barton Fr
STAR 5 James Crawford  So
LEO 6 Carroll Phillips  Jr
DB 7 Caleb Day Jr
DB 8 Dillan Cazley Jr
DL 9 Kenny Nelson  Sr
LB 10 B. J. Bello  Jr
DL 11 Chunky Clements Jr
DB 12 Chris James  Fr
STAR 14 Eric Finney  Sr
DB 15 Jevaris Little  Jr
DL 16 Rob Bain  Jr
DL 17 Jihad Ward Sr
DB 19 Frank Sumpter Fr
DB 20 Clayton Fejedelem  Sr
DB 21 Darwyn Kelly  So
DB 21 Patrick Nelson Fr
LB 22 LaKeith Walls  Jr
DB 23 Davontay Kwaaning  Sr
DB 24 Darius Mosely Jr
STAR 26 Cedric Doxy  Jr
DB 27 Eaton Spencer  Sr
DB 28 Jaylen Dunlap  So
STAR 29 Nelson Lugo  Jr
DB 29 T. J. Moss  Fr
DB 30 Julian Hylton  Fr
DB 31 Cameron Watkins Fr
STAR 32 Justice Williams Fr
LB 33 Tre Watson  Fr
LB 34 Mike Svetina  Jr
LB 35 Sean White  Jr
LB 36 Austin Roberts  Fr
DB 37 Dennis Thurow  So
DB 38 Samuel Harlib  So
LB 40 Jason Goldsmith  Fr
LB 41 Jimmy Marchese Fr
DL 42 Joe Fotu Sr
LB 43 Mason Monheim Sr
LB 44 Julian Jones Fr
LEO 45 Henry McGrew  Fr
DE 46 Ikjot Wahi Fr
LEO 47 Sean Adesanya So
LB 48 Jack Clark Fr
STAR 49 Conner Schmidt  So
LB 52 T. J. Neal  Jr
DL 55 Jamal Milan Fr
DL 65 Ryan Walton  So
DL 85 Brandon Roberts  So
DL 90 Altan Aldemir Fr
LEO 91 Dawuane Smoot Jr
DL 93 Teko Powell  Jr
DL 94 Tito Odenigbo  Fr
DL 95 Max Loeb  So
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K/P 13 Ryan Frain Jr
K 17 Taylor Zalewski Sr
K 35 Jonathan Milazzo Fr
K/P 38 David Reisner  Jr
P 40 Ryan Tucker  Fr
P 46 Luke Nelson Jr
K 48 Chase McLaughlin  Fr
LS 54 Zach Hirth  Jr
LS 56 Michael Martin  Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Tim BanksCo-Defensive Coordinator and Secondary
  • Mike Phair – Co-Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Line
  • Mike BellamyWide Receivers
  • Tom Brattan – Offensive Line
  • Ryan Cubit – Quarterback and Recruiting Coordinator
  • Alex Golesh – Tight Ends and Special Teams Coordinator
  • Nathan ScheelhaaseRunning Backs
  • Al Seamonson – Outside Linebackers
  • Mike Ward – Inside Linebackers
  • Tyler Johns - Graduate Assistant
  • Reilly O'Toole - Graduate Assistant
  • Kaeman Mitchell - Graduate Assistant
  • LeDominique Williams - Graduate Assistant
  • Scott Yelding - Director of Player Personnel
  • Tim Knox - Director of Football Operations
  • Patrick Embleton - Director of Football Student-Athlete Development
  • Aaron Hillmann - Head Football Strength & Conditioning Coach
  • Trent Chestnut - Head Football Equipment Manager
  • Alex Benizzi - Director of Football Video

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 1, 2015

References

  1. Ryan, Shannon; Cohen, Jodi S. (August 28, 2015). "Illinois Fires Football Coach Tim Beckman over Mishandling of Injuries". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  2. "2015 Big Ten Football Schedule Announced" (Press release). Illinois Athletics. June 3, 2013. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  3. "2015 Illinois Fighting Illini Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.