1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football
1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 31–21 vs. Virginia
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	10–2 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Mackovic (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Gene Dahlquist (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Lou Tepper (2nd season)
MVP	Mike Bellamy, Moe Gardner
Captain	Craig Schneider, Steve Glasson, Mike Bellamy, Moe Gardner
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1988 1990 →

The 1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach John Mackovic the Fighting Illini compiled an overall record of 10–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, placing second in the Big Ten. Illinois was invited to the Florida Citrus Bowl, where the Illini beat Virginia.

1989 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Michigan $	8	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Illinois	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Michigan State	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No. 24 Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 4	2:30 pm	at No. 5 USC*	No. 22	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	ABC	W 14–13	54,622
September 16	2:30 pm	at No. 8 Colorado*	No. 10	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	CBS	L 7–38	46,747
September 23	1:00 pm	Utah State*	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 41–2	61,553
October 7	2:30 pm	Ohio State	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	ABC	W 34–14	69,088
October 14	1:00 pm	at Purdue	No. 16	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)		W 14–2	41,101
October 21	11:30 am	at Michigan State	No. 13	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN	W 14–10	76,216
October 28	1:00 pm	Wisconsin	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 32–9	64,856
November 4	2:30 pm	at Iowa	No. 8	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ABC	W 31–7	67,700
November 11	2:30 pm	No. 3 Michigan	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	ABC	L 10–24	73,069
November 18	2:30 pm	Indiana	No. 12	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	ABC	W 41–28	53,368
November 25	2:00 pm	at Northwestern	No. 11	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)		W 63–14	31,017
January 1	12:30 pm	vs. No. 16 Virginia*	No. 11	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC	W 31–21	60,016	^[1]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Game summaries

At USC

At Colorado

Utah State

Ohio State

Ohio State Buckeyes (2–1) at #18 Illinois Fighting Illini (2–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Ohio St	0	7	7	0	14
Illinois	7	3	14	10	34

at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois

Date: October 7
Game time: 2:30 p.m. CST
Game weather: Sunny, 54 °F (12 °C)
Game attendance: 69,088
Referee: Gil Marchman
TV: ABC
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

ILL – Howard Griffith 1-yard run (Doug Higgins kick), 1:01. Illinois 7–0. Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, 1:59.

Second quarter

OSU – Carlos Snow 7-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 13:31. Tie 7–7. Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards, 2:30.
ILL – Doug Higgins 26-yard field goal, 9:07. Illinois 10–7. Drive: 11 plays, 49 yards, 4:24.

Third quarter

ILL – Howard Griffith 5-yard run (Chris Siambekos kick), 8:57. Illinois 17–7. Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards, 3:49.
OSU – Jeff Graham 66-yard punt return (Pat O'Morrow kick), 4:22. Illinois 17–14.
ILL – Mike Bellamy 34-yard pass from Steve Williams (Chris Siambekos kick), 3:30. Illinois 24–14. Drive: 3 plays, 60 yards, 0:52.

Fourth quarter

ILL – Chris Siambekos 36-yard field goal, 14:49. Illinois 27–14. Drive: 7 plays, 11 yards, 2:26.
ILL – Ken Thomas 36-yard run (Chris Siambekos kick), 3:27. Illinois 34–14. Drive: 10 plays, 99 yards, 4:17.

Top passers

OSU – Greg Frey – 13/25, 137 yards, INT
ILL – Jeff George – 12/20, 130 yards, 2 INT

Top rushers

OSU – Carlos Snow – 21 rushes, 97 yards, TD
ILL – Howard Griffith – 20 rushes, 117 yards, 2 TD

Top receivers

OSU – Jeff Graham – 5 receptions, 71 yards
ILL – Mike Bellamy – 10 receptions, 152 yards, TD

At Purdue

#16 Illinois Fighting Illini (3–1) at Purdue Boilermakers (1–3)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Illinois	7	0	0	7	14
Purdue	0	0	0	2	2

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

Date: October 14, 1989
Game attendance: 41,101

Jeff George made his first appearance at Purdue since transferring following the 1986 season^[2]^[3]^[4]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois	Passing	Jeff George	24/42, 254 Yds, TD
	Rushing	Howard Griffith	24 Rush, 94 Yds, TD
	Receiving
Purdue	Passing	Jeff Lesniewicz	9/22, 82 Yds
	Rushing
	Receiving

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	ILL	PUR
1	9:49	16	80		Illinois	Frank Hartley 3-yard touchdown reception from Jeff George, kick good	7	0
4	12:13				Purdue	Safety, Craig Davisson blocked punt by Brian Menkhausen out of end zone	7	2
4	0:36		80		Illinois	Howard Griffith 1-yard touchdown run, kick good	14	2
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							14	2

At Michigan State

Wisconsin

At Iowa

Michigan

Indiana

At Northwestern

Florida Citrus Bowl (vs. Virginia)

Illinois vs. Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 11 Fighting Illini	7	10	7	7	31
No. 16 Cavaliers	0	7	7	7	21

Date: January 1
Location: Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida
Game attendance: 60,016
Television network: ABC

Roster

1989 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB		Kameno Bell
WR	`2`	Mike Bellamy	Sr
RB		Victor Bowlay-Williams
RB		Darren Boyer
TE		Dan Donovan
RB		Steve Feagin
TE		Jeff Finke
QB	`11`	Jeff George	Jr
RB	`29`	Howard Griffith	Jr
TE	`82`	Frank Hartley	Jr
OT	`79`	Brad Hopkins	So
QB		Jeff Kinney
OL		Tony Laster
RB		Wagner Lester
OL		Curt Lovelace
WR		Gus Palma
OL		Cam Pepper
WR		Luke Petraitis
RB		Alfred Pierce
WR		Dino Pollock
OL		Craig Schneider
RB		Errol Shavers
WR		Dave Silva
C	`69`	Tim Simpson	So
RB		Art Slowinski
RB		Ken Thomas
QB		Jason Verduzco
WR		Shawn Wax
WR		Steve Williams

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`96`	Mel Agee	Jr
LB		Romero Brice
LB		Julyon Brown
LB	`48`	Darrick Brownlow	Jr
DT	`95`	Moe Gardner	Jr
LB		Steve Glasson
DB	`33`	Chris Green	Jr
LB		Jason Guard
DB		Mike Hopkins
DB	`18`	Henry Jones	Jr
DB	`37`	Steve Nelson	Jr
DB		Quintin Parker
DB		Marlon Primous
DL		Sean Streeter
LB		Brian Williams

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Doug Higgins
P		Brian Menkhausen
K		Chris Siambekos

Head coach

John Mackovic

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Awards and honors

vJeff George, Sammy Baugh Trophy^[5]

Team players in the NFL

Player	Round	Pick	Position	Club
Jeff George	1	1	Quarterback	Indianapolis Colts
Mike Bellamy	2	50	Wide receiver	Philadelphia Eagles

^[6]

References

^ "Illinois just too strong for Virginia in 31–21 win". St. Petersburg Times. January 2, 1990. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Slater, Jim (October 14, 1989). "Illinois 14, Purdue 2". UPI Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
^ Tatlock, David (October 16, 1989). "Purdue Defense Shines in Loss". The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
^ Youmans, Matt (October 16, 1989). "Boiler Defense Goes to Waste as Illinois Wins". The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
^ "Awards". www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
^ "1990 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.

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[1] "Illinois just too strong for Virginia in 31–21 win". St. Petersburg Times. January 2, 1990. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Slater, Jim (October 14, 1989). "Illinois 14, Purdue 2". UPI Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.

[3] Tatlock, David (October 16, 1989). "Purdue Defense Shines in Loss". The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.

[4] Youmans, Matt (October 16, 1989). "Boiler Defense Goes to Waste as Illinois Wins". The Purdue Exponent Archives. Retrieved December 23, 2022.

[5] "Awards". www.touchdownclubofcolumbus.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.

[6] "1990 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.

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