2017 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

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American college football season

The 2017 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Lovie Smith. They finished the season 2–10, 0–9 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in the West Division.

Table of Contents

Recruiting[edit]

Position key[edit]

Recruits[edit]

The Fighting Illini signed a total of 25 recruits.

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Mike Epstein RB	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	St. Thomas Aquinas HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 6, 2015
Mike Epstein RB	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Ricky Smalling WR	Chicago, Illinois	Brother Rice HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	Apr 26, 2016
Ricky Smalling WR	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Kendall Smith WR	Bolingbrook, Illinois	Bolingbrook HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Apr 26, 2016
Kendall Smith WR	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Cameron Thomas QB	Richton Park, Illinois	Marian Catholic HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	May 31, 2016
Cameron Thomas QB	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Vederian Lowe OG	Rockford, Illinois	Auburn HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	352 lb (160 kg)	Jun 12, 2016
Vederian Lowe OG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Marc Mondesir LB	Chicago, Illinois	St. Rita HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jun 12, 2016
Marc Mondesir LB	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Tony Adams WR	St. Louis, Missouri	St. Louis University HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 12, 2016
Tony Adams WR	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Larry Boyd OG	St. Louis Missouri	Trinity Catholic HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	310 lb (140 kg)	Aug 13, 2016
Larry Boyd OG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Carmoni Green WR	Miami, Florida	Miami Central HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	Aug 25, 2016
Carmoni Green WR	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Olalere Oladipo DE	Huntley, Illinois	Huntley HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Aug 25, 2016
Olalere Oladipo DE	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Ra’Von Bonner RB	Cincinnati, Ohio	Sycamore HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sep 27, 2016
Ra’Von Bonner RB	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Del’Shawn Phillips LB	Highland Park, Michigan	Garden City Community College	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Dec 14, 2016
Del’Shawn Phillips LB	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Howard Watkins OG	Cincinnati, Ohio	Colerain HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	280 lb (130 kg)	Dec 19, 2016
Howard Watkins OG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Kendrick Green DT	Peoria, Illinois	Peoria HS	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	270 lb (120 kg)	Dec 22, 2016
Kendrick Green DT	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Nate Hobbs CB	Louisville, Kentucky	Male HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Dec 23, 2016
Nate Hobbs CB	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Owen Carney DE	Miami, Florida	Miami Central HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	232 lb (105 kg)	Dec 25, 2016
Owen Carney DE	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
James Knight S	East St. Louis, Illinois	East St. Louis HS	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jan 16, 2017
James Knight S	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Louis Dorsey TE	Jacksonville, Florida	Ribault HS	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jan 21, 2017
Louis Dorsey TE	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Alex Palczewski OT	Prospect, Illinois	Plant HS	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	260 lb (120 kg)	Jan 20, 2017
Alex Palczewski OT	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Deon Pate DE	Jacksonville, Florida	Trinity Christian Academy	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	246 lb (112 kg)	Jan 30, 2017
Deon Pate DE	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Bennett Williams CB	Watsonville, California	Saint Francis HS	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	Jan 31, 2017
Bennett Williams CB	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A
Dawson DeGroot S	Fort Myers, Florida	Fort Myers HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jan 31, 2017
Dawson DeGroot S	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A
Jamal Woods DE	Hueytown, Alabama	Hueytown HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Feb 1, 2017
Jamal Woods DE	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Bobby Roundtree DE	Largo, Florida	Largo HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Feb 1, 2017
Bobby Roundtree DE	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Isaiah Gay DE	Rocky Mount, North Carolina	Northern Nash HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Feb 10, 2017
Isaiah Gay DE	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: after-content-x4

Schedule[edit]

Illinois announced its 2017 football schedule on July 11, 2013. The 2017 schedule consisted of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini hosted Big Ten foes Indiana, Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, Wisconsin, and traveled to Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Purdue.^[1]

The Fighting Illini hosted two of the three non-conference opponents, Ball State from the Mid-American Conference and Western Kentucky (WKU) from Conference USA, and traveled to South Florida from the American Athletic Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	11:00 a.m.	Ball State*		BTN	W 24–21	42,505
September 9	7:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 20–7	41,923
	6:00 p.m.	at No. 22 South Florida*		ESPN	L 23–47	35,404
	7:00 p.m.	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	FS1	L 6–28	43,058
October 7	11:00 a.m.	at Iowa		BTN	L 16–45	69,894
October 14	11:00 a.m.	Rutgers	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 24–35	35,675
October 21	2:30 p.m.	at Minnesota		BTN	L 17–24	45,243
October 28	11:00 a.m.	No. 5 Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN	L 10–24	42,101
November 4	11:00 a.m.	at Purdue		BTN	L 10–29	46,027
November 11	11:00 a.m.	Indiana	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 14–24	40,195
November 18	2:30 p.m.	at No. 8 Ohio State		ABC	L 14–52	105,282
November 25	3:00 p.m.	No. 23 Northwestern	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	FS1	L 7–42	30,456
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:^[2]

Game summaries[edit]

Ball State[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	0	14	0	21
Fighting Illini	6	10	0	8	24

WKU[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	0	0	0	7	7
Fighting Illini	3	10	7	0	20

At South Florida[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	2	7	0	14	23
No. 22 Bulls	9	14	14	10	47

Nebraska[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cornhuskers	7	14	0	7	28
Fighting Illini	0	3	3	0	6

At Iowa[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	3	10	3	0	16
Hawkeyes	7	10	7	21	45

Rutgers[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Scarlet Knights	7	14	7	7	35
Fighting Illini	3	7	0	14	24

At Minnesota[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	7	0	0	10	17
Golden Gophers	7	0	3	14	24

Wisconsin[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Badgers	7	10	0	7	24
Fighting Illini	0	3	0	7	10

At Purdue[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	7	3	0	0	10
Boilermakers	7	6	3	13	29

Indiana[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hoosiers	0	14	3	7	24
Fighting Illini	0	0	7	7	14

At Ohio State[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	0	7	7	14
Buckeyes	28	10	7	7	52

Northwestern[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	14	14	14	42
Fighting Illini	7	0	0	0	7