Offseason
Recruiting
Recruits
The Fighting Illini signed a total of 17 recruits on Early National Signing Day on December 20, 2017.
Award watch lists
Listed in the order that they were released
Schedule
The 2018 schedule consists of seven home and five away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini will host Big Ten foes Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, and will travel to Rutgers, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska and Northwestern.[3]
The Fighting Illini will host all three non-conference opponents, Kent State from the Mid-American Conference, Western Illinois from Missouri Valley Football Conference, and South Florida from the American Athletic Conference. The South Florida game was played at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.
Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
---|
September 1 | 11:00 a.m. | Kent State* | | BTN | W 31–24 | 31,898 |
September 8 | 6:30 p.m. | Western Illinois* | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| BTN | W 34–14 | 39,252 |
September 15 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. South Florida* | | BTN | L 19–25 | 21,725 |
September 21 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 10 Penn State | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| FS1 | L 24–63 | 34,704 |
October 6 | 11:00 a.m. | at Rutgers | | BTN | W 38–17 | 36,702 |
October 13 | 2:30 p.m. | Purdue![dagger](../I/m/Dagger-14-plain.png) | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL (rivalry)
| FS1 | L 7–46 | 41,966 |
October 20 | 11:00 a.m. | at Wisconsin | | FS1 | | |
October 27 | | at Maryland | | | | |
November 3 | | Minnesota | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| | | |
November 10 | | at Nebraska | | | | |
November 17 | | Iowa | - Memorial Stadium
- Champaign, IL
| | | |
November 24 | | at Northwestern | | | | |
- *Non-conference game
Homecoming- Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
- All times are in Central time
|
- Schedule Source:[4]
Game summaries
Kent State
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Golden Flashes |
7 |
10 |
7 |
0 |
24 |
Fighting Illini |
3 |
0 |
21 |
7 |
31 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
1–0 |
2015 |
W, 52–3 |
Western Illinois
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Leathernecks |
7 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
14 |
Fighting Illini |
0 |
14 |
10 |
10 |
34 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
2–0 |
2015 |
W, 44–0 |
South Florida
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Bulls |
7 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
25 |
Fighting Illini |
10 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
19 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
0–1 |
2017 |
L, 23–47 |
Penn State
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
No. 10 Nittany Lions |
7 |
14 |
7 |
35 |
63 |
Fighting Illini |
7 |
10 |
7 |
0 |
24 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
5–18 |
2015 |
L, 0–39 |
at Rutgers
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Illini |
10 |
14 |
0 |
14 |
38 |
Scarlet Knights |
7 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
17 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
2–2 |
2017 |
L, 24–35 |
Purdue
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Boilermakers |
14 |
15 |
7 |
10 |
46 |
Fighting Illini |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
44–43–6 |
2017 |
L, 10–29 |
at Wisconsin
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Illini |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Badgers |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
37–41–7 |
2017 |
L, 10–24 |
at Maryland
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Illini |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Terrapins |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
First meeting |
Minnesota
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Golden Gophers |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Fighting Illini |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
29–38–3 |
2017 |
L, 17–24 |
at Nebraska
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Illini |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Cornhuskers |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
3–11–1 |
2017 |
L, 6–28 |
Iowa
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Hawkeyes |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Fighting Illini |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
38–33–2 |
2017 |
L, 16–45 |
at Northwestern
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Fighting Illini |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Wildcats |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Overall record |
Last meeting |
Result |
55–51–5 |
2017 |
L, 7–42 |
References
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Venues | |
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Bowls & rivalries | |
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Culture & lore | |
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People | |
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Seasons | |
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National championship seasons in bold |