1975 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1975 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1975 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fifth year under head coach Bob Blackman, the Illini compiled a 5–6 record and finished in a three-way tie for third place in the Big Ten Conference.[1]

1975 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1975 record	5–6 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bob Blackman (5th season)
MVP	Stu Levenick, Bruce Beaman
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1975 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Michigan	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	2
Michigan State	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Indiana	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Kurt Steger with 1,136 passing yards, running back Lonnie Perrin with 907 rushing yards, and wide receiver Frank Johnson with 349 receiving yards.[2] Offensive tackle Stu Levenick and defensive back Bruce Beaman were selected as the team's most valuable players.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 13	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 27–12
September 20	No. 5 Missouri*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 20–30
September 27	at No. 8 Texas A&M*	Kyle Field College Station, TX	L 13–43
October 4	Washington State*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 27–21
October 11	Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 42–23
October 18	Purdue	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Purdue Cannon)	L 24–26
October 25	at No. 16 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 21–19
November 1	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 9–18
November 8	No. 1 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	L 3–40
November 15	No. 4 Michigan	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 15–21
November 22	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	W 28–7
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1975 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class T 76 Burt Owens So T 74 Kevin Pancratz Jr SE 40 John Peach Jr TB 33 Lonnie Perrin Sr TB 23 Jim Phillips Jr QB 16 Ray Pokorny Jr TB 14 Dirk Schnittker So	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 15 Jeff Stewart Jr LB 67 Scott Studwell Sr LB 97 John Sullivan So LB 51 Chris Williams Jr LB 37 Rick Williams Sr DB 21 John Yanoshik Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bob Blackman Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. "1975 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
2. "1975 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
3. "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 29, 2016.