1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
APNo. 15
Record5–4–1 (3–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPBuddy Young
CaptainGame captains
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
1944 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Ohio State $ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 0 – 0
No. 8 Michigan 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Purdue 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 2 – 1 5 – 3 – 1
Indiana 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
No. 15 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 5 – 1 1 – 7 – 1
Iowa 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1944 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 1944 Big Ten season. In their third year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Fighting Illini compiled a 5–3–1 record (3–3 in conference games), finished in sixth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 273 to 149. They were ranked No. 15 in the final AP poll and lost three games to teams ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll: No. 9 Notre Dame (13–7); No. 8 Michigan (14–0); and No. 2 Ohio State (26–12).[1]

Halfback Buddy Young was selected as the team's most valuable player. Young and guard Ralph "Babe" Serpico received first-team honors from both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) on the 1944 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[2][3]

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

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 16Illinois State Normal*
W 79–05,386[4]
September 23Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 26–187,986
September 30at Great Lakes Navy*
T 26–2625,000[5]
October 7Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 19–3515,210
October 14IowaNo. 14
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 40–611,498
October 21at Pittsburgh*
W 39–515,000
October 28No. 1 Notre Dame*No. 14
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
L 7–1365,114
November 11at No. 8 MichiganNo. 10
L 0–1443,922
November 18vs. No. 4 Ohio State
L 12–2683,627
November 25at Northwestern
W 25–638,000
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[6] Halfback Buddy Young was selected as the team's most valuable player.[7]

Rankings

See also: 1944 college football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
Poll12345678Final
AP14—14910———15

References

  1. ^ "1945 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  2. ^ "All-Western Conference Team". The Logan Daily News. November 27, 1944. p. 5.
  3. ^ "Four Ohio State Stars Named on the All-Conference Team". The Milwaukee Journal (UP story). November 22, 1944. p. 6.
  4. ^ Bartlett, Charles (September 17, 1944). "Illinois Unveils Flock of Fleet Backs; Crushes Normal, 79 to 0". Chicago Tribune. p. 2:1. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Illinois Holds Bluejackets to 26 to 26 Tie". Chicago Tribune. October 1, 1944. p. II-1, II-3 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "1944 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  7. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
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