1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

American college football season

1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football

Liberty Bowl champion

Liberty Bowl, W 30–0 vs. East Carolina

Conference| Big Ten Conference
Record| 7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach|

* Lou Tepper (3rd season)

Offensive coordinator| Greg Landry (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator| Denny Marcin (3rd season)
MVP| Dana Howard
Captains|

* Pete Gabrione
* John Holecek
* Dana Howard
* Jon Kerr

Home stadium| Memorial Stadium

Seasons

← 1993

1995 →

1994 Big Ten Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team | W |   | L |   | T |  |  | W |   | L |   | T
No. 2 Penn State $  | 8  | – | 0  | – | 0 |  |  | 12  | – | 0  | – | 0
No. 14 Ohio State | 6  | – | 2  | – | 0 |  |  | 9  | – | 4  | – | 0
Wisconsin | 5  | – | 2  | – | 1 |  |  | 8  | – | 3  | – | 1
No. 12 Michigan | 5  | – | 3  | – | 0 |  |  | 8  | – | 4  | – | 0
Illinois | 4  | – | 4  | – | 0 |  |  | 7  | – | 5  | – | 0
Purdue | 3  | – | 3  | – | 2 |  |  | 5  | – | 4  | – | 2
Iowa | 3  | – | 4  | – | 1 |  |  | 5  | – | 5  | – | 1
Indiana | 3  | – | 5  | – | 0 |  |  | 6  | – | 5  | – | 0
Northwestern | 3  | – | 5  | – | 0 |  |  | 4  | – | 6  | – | 1
Minnesota | 1  | – | 7  | – | 0 |  |  | 3  | – | 8  | – | 0
Michigan State †  | 0  | – | 8  | – | 0 |  |  | 0  | – | 11  | – | 0

* $ – Conference champion
* † Michigan State forfeited 5 wins including 4 conference victories, over Wisconsin, Indiana, Northwestern, and Purdue.

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Lou Tepper, the Fighting Illini compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing fifth in the Big Ten. Illinois was invited to the Liberty Bowl, where the Illini defeated East Carolina. The team played home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| TV| Result| Attendance| Source

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|

September 1| 7:30 pm| vs. Washington State*| No. 22|

* Soldier Field
* Chicago, IL

| | L 9–10| 39,472|
September 10| 1:00 pm| Missouri*| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL (rivalry)

| | W 42–0| 64,305|
September 17| 1:00 pm| Northern Illinois*| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| | W 34–10| 55,327|
October 1| 1:00 pm| Purdue| No. 25|

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL (rivalry)

| | L 16–22| 58,338|
October 8| 2:30 pm| at No. 17 Ohio State| |

* Ohio Stadium
* Columbus, OH (Illibuck)

| ABC| W 24–10| 93,351|
October 15| 1:00 pm| Iowa| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| | W 47–7| 59,573|
October 22| 2:30 pm| No. 11 Michigan| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL (rivalry)

| ABC| L 14–19| 72,677|
October 29| 1:00 pm| at Northwestern| |

* Dyche Stadium
* Evanston, IL (rivalry)

| | W 28–7| 40,365|
November 5| 1:30 pm| at Minnesota| |

* Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* Minneapolis, MN

| | W 21–17| 35,069|
November 12| 2:30 pm| No. 2 Penn State| |

* Memorial Stadium
* Champaign, IL

| ABC| L 31–35| 72,364|
November 19| 2:30 pm| at Wisconsin| |

* Camp Randall Stadium
* Madison, WI

| ABC| L 13–19| 77,745|
December 31| 12:00 pm| vs. East Carolina*| |

* Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
* Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)

| ESPN| W 30–0| 33,280| [1]

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Central time

[2]

## Roster

[edit]

1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster

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

|
|
|

OT | `73` | Ken Blackman | Jr
TE | `86` | Matt Cushing | Fr
TE | `87` | Ken Dilger | Sr
QB | `13` | Johnny Johnson | Jr
RB | `38` | George McDonald | Fr
Defense | Pos. | # | Name | Class

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|
|

LB | `51` | Kevin Hardy | Jr
LB | `52` | John Holecek | Sr
DE | `97` | Simeon Rice | Jr
CB | `29` | Scott Turner | Sr
Special teams | Pos. | # | Name | Class

|
|
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Head coach

* Lou Tepper

Coordinators/assistant coaches

* * *

Legend

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

* Injured
* Redshirt

* * *

Roster

## Team players in the NFL

[edit]

Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club

|
|
|
|

Ken Dilger | Tight end | 2 | 48 | Indianapolis Colts

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Illini leave East Carolina in a daze". The News and Observer. January 1, 1995. Retrieved March 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. ^ "1994 Illinois Football Schedule". College Football Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2014.

* 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
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
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* 1907
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* 1910
* 1911
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* 1913
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* 1917
* 1918
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* 1927
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* 1929
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* 1939
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* 1943
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* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
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* 1954
* 1955
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* 1957
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* 1959
* 1960
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* 1963
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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