2023 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

2023 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record5–7 (3–6 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBarry Lunney Jr. (2nd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorAaron Henry (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinatorTerrance Jamison (1st season)
Base defenseMultiple 3–4
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 1 Michigan xy$#^   9 – 0     15 – 0  
No. 10 Ohio State   8 – 1     11 – 2  
No. 13 Penn State   7 – 2     10 – 3  
Maryland   4 – 5     8 – 5  
Rutgers   3 – 6     7 – 6  
Michigan State   2 – 7     4 – 8  
Indiana   1 – 8     3 – 9  
West Division
No. 24 Iowa xy   7 – 2     10 – 4  
Northwestern   5 – 4     8 – 5  
Wisconsin   5 – 4     7 – 6  
Minnesota   3 – 6     6 – 7  
Illinois   3 – 6     5 – 7  
Nebraska   3 – 6     5 – 7  
Purdue   3 – 6     4 – 8  
Championship: Michigan 26, Iowa 0
  • # – College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2023 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini were led by Bret Bielema in his third season as the team's head coach. They played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. The Illinois Fighting Illini football team drew an average home attendance of 49,698 in 2023.[1]

Preseason

[edit]

Big 10 media poll

[edit]

The Illini were predicted to finish fourth in the Big Ten's West Division.[2]

Big Ten media poll West Division
Predicted finish Team Points (1st place votes)
1 Wisconsin 233 (20)
2 Iowa 232 (16)
3 Minnesota 176 (1)
4 Illinois 152
5 Nebraska 116
6 Purdue 89
7 Northwestern 38

Schedule

[edit]
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 26:30 p.m.Toledo*
BTNW 30–2848,898
September 86:30 p.m.at Kansas*
ESPN2L 23–3445,809
September 1611:00 a.m. No. 7 Penn State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
FOXL 13–3049,099
September 232:30 p.m.Florida Atlantic*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
BTNW 23–1753,512
September 302:30 p.m.at Purdue
 Peacock L 19–4459,510
October 66:00 p.m.Nebraska
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
FS1L 7–2046,703
October 142:30 p.m. at Maryland
 NBC W 27–2435,580
October 212:30 p.m.Wisconsindagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
FS1 L 21–2554,205
November 42:30 p.m.at Minnesota
 BTN W 27–2642,906
November 1111:00 a.m.Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
BTNW 48–45OT53,157
November 182:30 p.m.at No. 16 Iowa
FS1L 13–15 69,250
November 252:30 p.m.Northwestern
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
BTN L 43–45 42,310

Roster

[edit]
2023 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 0 Josh McCray So
WR 1 Isaiah Williams Jr
RB 3 Kaden Feagin Fr
QB 4 John Paddock Sr
WR 6 Ashton Hollins  Fr
WR 7 Kenari Wilcher Fr
WR 8 Shawn Miller  Fr
QB 9 Luke Altmyer So
QB 10 Donovan Leary  Fr
QB 11 Jake Huber So
QB 12 Kirkland Michaux So
WR 13 Pat Bryant Jr
WR 14 Casey Washington Sr
QB 16 Cal Swanson Fr
WR 18 Chase Miller  Fr
WR 19 Eian Pugh  Fr
RB 21 Aidan Laughery  Fr
RB 23 Reggie Love III Jr
RB 25 Jordan Anderson Injured  Fr
TE 36 Ben Schultz Jr
TE 41 Tanner Arkin So
TE 43 Griffin Moore Jr
OL 53 Devin Hale So
OL 54 Julian Pearl Sr
OL 55 T. J. McMillen Fr
OL 56 Magnus Møller  Fr
OL 62 Sam Tsagalis  Fr
OL 63 Dezmond Schuster So
OL 64 Josh Kruetz So
OL 65 Joey Okla  Fr
OL 66 Jordyn Slaughter Sr
OL 68 Zachary Barlev So
OL 70 Zach Aamland Fr
OL 71 Hunter Whitenack So
OL 72 Zy Crisler Jr
OL 73 Josh Gesky So
OL 75 Brandon Henderson Fr
OL 76 Clayton Leonard  Fr
OL 78 Isaiah Adams Sr
OL 79 Luciano Elias  Fr
WR 80 Hank Beatty So
TE 82 Nate Guinn Fr
WR 83 Keion Battle So
TE 84 Owen Anderson  Fr
WR 86 Weston Adams  Fr
WR 87 Tyler McClure So
TE 88 Henry Boyer  Fr
TE 89 Tip Reiman Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 1 Demetrius Hill Injured So
DB 3 Tahveon Nicholson Jr
DL 4 Johnny Newton Jr
DB 7 Matthew Bailey Injured So
LB 8 Tarique Barnes Sr
DB 9 Tyson Rooks  Fr
DB 10 Miles Scott So
DB 12 Elijah Mc-Cantos  Fr
OLB 13 Trey Smith Fr
DB 14 Xavier Scott So
OLB 17 Gabe Jacas So
DB 19 Zachary Tobe Fr
DB 20 Tyler Strain So
DB 21 Nicario Harper Sr
DB 22 Kaleb Patterson So
DL 23 Terah Edwards Jr
DB 24 Nick Fedanzo Jr
LB 25 Jared Badie  Fr
DB 26 Mike Manning Jr
DB 27 Matthew Bobak So
LB 28 Dylan Rosiek So
DB 29 T. J. Griffin  Fr
LB 30 JoJo Hayden Fr
DB 31 Kionte Curry So
LB 33 Ezekiel Holmes Sr
LB 34 Ryan Meed Jr
DB 35 Grayson Griffin  So
DB 37 Solo Turner Sr
LB 39 Kenenna Odeluga So
LB 41 James Kruetz  Fr
LB 42 Luke Zardzin  So
DB 44 Ben Clawson  Fr
LB 45 Malachi Hood Injured  Fr
LB 48 Bryce Barnes Sr
OLB 49 Seth Coleman Jr
OLB 52 Pat Farrell Fr
DL 55 Sed McConnell So
DL 56 Jeremiah Warren Fr
DL 57 Evan Kirts Jr
DL 74 Dylan Davis Jr
DL 88 Keith Randolph Jr. Jr
OLB 90 Alec Bryant So
DL 91 Denzel Daxon Sr
DL 93 Henry Engel Fr
DL 94 Joep Engbers Fr
DL 99 Christian Lorenzo  Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 5 Caleb Griffin Sr
P 19 Hugh Robertson So
K 24 David Olano Fr
P 31 Declan Duley Fr
LS 36 Lane Hansen So
LS 39 Aidan Hall Jr
K/P 98 Fabrizio Pinton So


Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Barry Lunney Jr. – Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks
  • Aaron Henry – Defensive coordinator
  • Robby Discher – Special teams coordinator/Tight ends
  • Terrance Jamison – Co-defensive coordinator/Defensive line
  • Thad Ward – Running backs
  • George McDonald – Wide receivers/Assistant head coach
  • Antonio Fenelus – Defensive Backs
  • Bart Miller – Offensive Line
  • Andy Buh – Linebackers
  • Charlie Bullen – Outside linebackers/Pass rush coordinator
  • Tank Wright – Director, Strength and Conditioning
  • GC Yerry – Associate Director, Strength and Conditioning
  • Nick Elicone – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning
  • Matt Manninger – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning
  • Tyler Mayo – Assistant, Strength and Conditioning
  • Danny Cameron – Quality Control, Offense
  • Max Rosenthal – Quality Control, Offense
  • Alex Panos – Quality Control, Defense
  • Ryan Simerson – Quality Control, Defense
  • Adam Kleffner – Offensive Analyst
  • Kevin Laeone Richardson II – Defensive Analyst
  • Chris Hurd – Special Teams Analyst
  • Vincent Jeffries Jr. – Graduate Assistant
  • Tyler King – Graduate Assistant
  • Grant Morgan – Graduate Assistant
  • Artur Sitkowski – Graduate Assistant
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 9/25/2023

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2023 FBS Attendance Trends". D1.ticker. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  2. ^ Cobb, David (July 25, 2023). "Big Ten football predicted order of finish for 2023: Michigan picked to win conference title over Ohio State". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  3. ^ "2023 Football Schedule". Illinois Fighting Illini. Retrieved December 19, 2022.


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