1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record3–7 (2–4 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPEddie Bray
CaptainGame captains
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
1943 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Purdue + 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 0 – 0
No. 3 Michigan + 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 1 – 0
No. 9 Northwestern 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
Indiana 2 – 3 – 1 4 – 4 – 2
Minnesota 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Ohio State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Wisconsin 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
Iowa 0 – 4 – 1 1 – 6 – 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1943 Big Ten season. In their second season under head coach Ray Eliot, the Fighting Illini compiled a 3–7 record (2–4 in conference games), finished in sixth place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by a total of 308 to 154.[1] In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Illinois ranked 35th among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 89.6.[2]

Halfback Eddie Bray was selected as the team's most valuable player.[3] Bray received second-team honors on the 1943 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[4][5]

The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11Camp Grant*
L 0–233,500
September 18Iowa Pre-Flight*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 18–328,500[6]
October 2at Purdue
L 21–4015,000
October 9at Wisconsin
W 25–717,000
October 16Pittsburgh*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 33–257,144
October 23at No. 1 Notre Dame*
L 0–4724,676
October 30No. 7 Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 6–4215,724
November 6at Iowa
W 19–1011,000
November 13at Ohio State
L 26–2936,331
November 20at No. 9 Northwestern
L 6–5325,000
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

  1. ^ "1943 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  2. ^ Litkenhous, E. E. (December 17, 1943). "Litkenhouse Selects U. S. Grid Leaders". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 18. Retrieved April 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  3. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  4. ^ "Western Conference All Star Grid Squad Picked". Sarasota Herald-Tribune (AP story). November 30, 1943. p. 6.
  5. ^ "Michigan Places Three on Big Ten Conference Team". The News-Herald (Franklin, Penn.). November 26, 1943. p. 10.
  6. ^ Sec Taylor (September 19, 1943). "Seahawks Win, 32-18". The Des Moines Register. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.
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