1949 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1949 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1949 Big Nine Conference football season. In their eighth year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 3–4–2 record and finished in fifth place in the Big Ten Conference.[1] Halfback Johnny Karras was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

1949 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Nine Conference
Record3–4–2 (3–3–1 Big Nine)
Head coach
MVPJohnny Karras
CaptainLyle Button
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1948
1950 →
1949 Big Nine Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Ohio State + 4 1 1 7 1 2
No. 7 Michigan + 4 1 1 6 2 1
No. 8 Minnesota 4 2 0 7 2 0
Wisconsin 3 2 1 5 3 1
Illinois 3 3 1 3 4 2
Iowa 3 3 0 4 5 0
Northwestern 3 4 0 4 5 0
Purdue 2 4 0 4 5 0
Indiana 0 6 0 1 8 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

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DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 24Iowa State*T 20–2031,106–31,883
October 1Wisconsin
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
T 13–1338,332
October 8at IowaW 20–1445,066
October 15Missouri*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 20–2742,184
October 22at PurdueW 19–048,000
October 29No. 6 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 0–1371,119[3][4]
November 5Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 33–1440,457
November 12at No. 11 Ohio StateL 17–3081,805
November 19Northwestern
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 7–967,872
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

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  1. ^ "1949 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  3. ^ Lyall Smith (October 30, 1949). "No Upset; UM 13, Illini 0". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 5C – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Merle Levin (October 30, 1949). "'M' Throttles Illini Bid, 13-0". The Michigan Daily. pp. 1, 7 – via Bentley Historical Library.