1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

American college football season

The 1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach John Mackovic the Fighting Illini compiled an overall record of 10–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the Big Ten. Illinois was invited to the Florida Citrus Bowl, where the Illini beat Virginia.

Table of Contents

Schedule[edit]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	2:30 pm	at No. 5 USC*	No. 22		ABC	W 14–13	54,622
September 16	2:30 pm	at No. 8 Colorado*	No. 10		CBS	L 7–38	46,747
September 23	1:00 pm	Utah State*	No. 20			W 41–2	61,553
October 7	2:30 pm	Ohio State	No. 18		ABC	W 34–14	69,088
October 14	1:00 pm	at Purdue	No. 16			W 14–2	41,101
October 21	11:30 am	at Michigan State	No. 13		ESPN	W 14–10	76,216
October 28	1:00 pm	Wisconsin	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 32–9	64,856
November 4	2:30 pm	at Iowa	No. 8		ABC	W 31–7	67,700
November 11	2:30 pm	No. 3 Michigan	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ABC	L 10–24	73,069
November 18	2:30 pm	Indiana	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ABC	W 41–28	53,368
November 25	2:00 pm	at Northwestern	No. 11			W 63–14	31,017
January 1	12:30 pm	vs. No. 16 Virginia*	No. 11		ABC	W 31–21	60,016
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Defense

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Doug Higgins
P		Brian Menkhausen
K		Chris Siambekos

Head coach

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Rankings[edit]

Season summary[edit]

At USC[edit]

At Colorado[edit]

Utah State[edit]

Ohio State[edit]

Ohio State Buckeyes (2–1) at #18 Illinois Fighting Illini (2–1)

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

Date: October 7
Game time: 2:30 p.m. CST
Game weather: Sunny, 54 °F (12 °C)
Game attendance: 69,088
Referee: Gil Marchman
TV: ABC
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

ILL – Howard Griffith 1-yard run (Doug Higgins kick), 1:01. Illinois 7–0. Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, 1:59.

Second quarter

OSU – Carlos Snow 7-yard run (Pat O’Morrow kick), 13:31. Tie 7–7. Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards, 2:30.
ILL – Doug Higgins 26-yard field goal, 9:07. Illinois 10–7. Drive: 11 plays, 49 yards, 4:24.

Third quarter

ILL – Howard Griffith 5-yard run (Chris Siambekos kick), 8:57. Illinois 17–7. Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards, 3:49.
OSU – Jeff Graham 66-yard punt return (Pat O’Morrow kick), 4:22. Illinois 17–14.
ILL – Mike Bellamy 34-yard pass from Steve Williams (Chris Siambekos kick), 3:30. Illinois 24–14. Drive: 3 plays, 60 yards, 0:52.

Fourth quarter

ILL – Chris Siambekos 36-yard field goal, 14:49. Illinois 27–14. Drive: 7 plays, 11 yards, 2:26.
ILL – Ken Thomas 36-yard run (Chris Siambekos kick), 3:27. Illinois 34–14. Drive: 10 plays, 99 yards, 4:17.

Top passers

Top rushers

Top receivers

At Purdue[edit]

Jeff George made his first appearance at Purdue since transferring following the 1986 season^[1]^[2]^[3]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois	Passing	Jeff George	24/42, 254 Yds, TD
	Rushing	Howard Griffith	24 Rush, 94 Yds, TD
	Receiving
Purdue	Passing	Jeff Lesniewicz	9/22, 82 Yds
	Rushing
	Receiving

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	ILL	PUR
1	9:49	16	80		Illinois	Frank Hartley 3-yard touchdown reception from Jeff George, kick good	7	0
4	12:13				Purdue	Safety, Craig Davisson blocked punt by Brian Menkhausen out of end zone	7	2
4	0:36		80		Illinois	Howard Griffith 1-yard touchdown run, kick good	14	2
“TOP” = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							14	2

At Michigan State[edit]

Wisconsin[edit]

At Iowa[edit]

Michigan[edit]

Indiana[edit]

At Northwestern[edit]

Florida Citrus Bowl (vs. Virginia)[edit]

Awards and honors[edit]

Team players in the NFL[edit]

^[5]

References[edit]

^ Slater, Jim (October 14, 1989). “Illinois 14, Purdue 2”. UPI Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
^ Tatlock, David (October 16, 1989). “Purdue Defense Shines in Loss”. The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
^ Youmans, Matt (October 16, 1989). “Boiler Defense Goes to Waste as Illinois Wins”. The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
^ “Awards”. www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17.
^ “1990 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com”. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-20.

[1] Slater, Jim (October 14, 1989). “Illinois 14, Purdue 2”. UPI Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.

[2] Tatlock, David (October 16, 1989). “Purdue Defense Shines in Loss”. The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.

[3] Youmans, Matt (October 16, 1989). “Boiler Defense Goes to Waste as Illinois Wins”. The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.

[4] “Awards”. www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17.

[5] “1990 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com”. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-20.