1971 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

American college football season

1971 Illinois Fighting Illini football

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Record| 5–6 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* Bob Blackman (1st season)

MVP| Terry Masar
Captains|

* Glenn Collier
* Larry McCarren

Home stadium| Memorial Stadium

Seasons

← 1970

1972 →

1971 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team | W |   | L |   | T |  |  | W |   | L |   | T
No. 6 Michigan $  | 8  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 11  | – | 1  | – | 0
Northwestern | 6  | – | 3  | – | 0 |  |  | 7  | – | 4  | – | 0
Ohio State | 5  | – | 3  | – | 0 |  |  | 6  | – | 4  | – | 0
Michigan State | 5  | – | 3  | – | 0 |  |  | 6  | – | 5  | – | 0
Illinois | 5  | – | 3  | – | 0 |  |  | 5  | – | 6  | – | 0
Wisconsin | 3  | – | 5  | – | 0 |  |  | 4  | – | 6  | – | 1
Minnesota | 3  | – | 5  | – | 0 |  |  | 4  | – | 7  | – | 0
Purdue | 3  | – | 5  | – | 0 |  |  | 3  | – | 7  | – | 0
Indiana | 2  | – | 6  | – | 0 |  |  | 3  | – | 8  | – | 0
Iowa | 1  | – | 8  | – | 0 |  |  | 1  | – | 10  | – | 0

* $ – Conference champion

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1971 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first 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]

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mike Wells with 1,007 passing yards, running back John Wilson with 543 rushing yards, and wide receiver Garvin Roberson with 372 receiving yards.[2] Punter/halfback Terry Masar was selected as the team's most valuable player.[3]

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Opponent| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

|
|
|
|
|

September 11| at Michigan State|

* Spartan Stadium
* East Lansing, MI

| L 0–10| 42,083|
September 18| North Carolina*|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| L 0–27| 49,591| [4]
September 25| at No. 16 USC*|

* Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
* Los Angeles, CA

| L 0–28| 49,390|
October 2| No. 15 Washington*|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| L 14–52| 48,127|
October 9| No. 15 Ohio State|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL (Illibuck)

| L 10–24| 53,555|
October 16| at No. 3 Michigan|

* Michigan Stadium
* Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)

| L 6–35| 73,406| [5]
October 23| No. 17 Purdue|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL (rivalry)

| W 21–7| 52,344|
October 30| Northwestern|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL (rivalry)

| W 24–7| 40,144|
November 6| at Indiana|

* Seventeenth Street Stadium
* Bloomington, IN (rivalry)

| W 22–21| 23,018|
November 13| at Wisconsin|

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| W 35–27| 65,459|
November 20| Iowa|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| W 31–0| 40,703|

* *Non-conference game
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

## Roster

[edit]

1971 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster

Players  | Coaches
Offense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

OT | `76` | Mike Dobrzeniecki | Jr
OT | `73` | Bruce Dobson | So
OT | `79` | Dennis Driscoll | Jr
TE | `86` | Bob Dubrish | So
G | `64` | Bob Elledge | Jr
G | `56` | John Gann | So
C | `54` | Larry McCarren | Jr
C | `51` | Gerry Sullivan | So
QB | `12` | Mike Wells | Jr
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

LB | `52` | Larry Allen | Jr
DE | `75` | Tab Bennett | Jr
DB | `24` | Jamie Dufelmeier | Sr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
|

Head coach

* Bob Blackman

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* * *

Legend

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

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1971 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
2. ^ "1971 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.
4. ^ "North Carolina blasts Illinois". The Indianapolis Star. September 19, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ "U-M Rambles; UM 35, Illinois 6". Detroit Free Press. p. 1C, 7C – via Newspapers.com.

* v
* t
* e

Illinois Fighting Illini football

Venues|

* Illinois Field (1890–1922)
* Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
* Soldier Field (1994–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Indiana
* Michigan
* Missouri
* Northwestern
* Ohio State: Illibuck
* Purdue

Culture & lore|

* Illinois Loyalty
* "Oskee Wow-Wow"
* Marching Illini
* Gene Honda
* Fighting Illini Sports Network
* Chief Illiniwek
* 1960s slush fund scandal
* 2021 Penn State game

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1890
* 1891
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* 1893
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National championship seasons in bold

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* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number