American college football season
The 1990 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season . In their third year under head coach John Mackovic , the Illini compiled an 8–4 record, finished in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference , were ranked No. 25 in the final AP Poll , and lost to Clemson in the 1991 Hall of Fame Bowl .[ 1]
The team's offensive leader were quarterback Jason Verduzco with 2,567 passing yards, fullback Howard Griffith with 1,115 rushing yards, and Shawn Wax with 863 receiving yards.[ 2]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 8 8:00 pm at Arizona * No. 11 L 16–2853,330
September 15 2:30 pm No. 9 Colorado * No. 21 ABC W 23–2264,351
September 22 2:30 pm Southern Illinois * No. 15 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL W 56–2164,469 [ 3]
October 6 2:30 pm at No. 20 Ohio State No. 13 ABC W 31–2089,404
October 13 12:00 pm Purdue No. 11 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry ) W 34–060,604
October 20 2:30 pm No. 24 Michigan State No. 8 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL ABC W 15–1370,398
October 27 1:00 pm at Wisconsin No. 5 W 21–367,746
November 3 2:30 pm No. 13 Iowa No. 5 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL ABC L 28–5472,714
November 10 11:00 am at No. 19 Michigan No. 17 L 17–22105,343
November 17 11:30 am Indiana No. 22 W 24–1044,639
November 24 1:00 pm Northwestern No. 22 Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry ) W 28–2332,383
January 1 12:00 pm vs. No. 14 Clemson * No. 16 NBC L 0–3063,154 [ 4]
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
[ 5]
#9 Colorado at #21 Illinois
1
2 3 4 Total
Buffaloes
7
10 2 3
22
• Fighting Illini
3
7 7 6
23
Scoring summary Q1 ILL Doug Higgins 29-yard field goal ILL 3–0
COL George Hemingway 2-yard run (Harper kick) COL 7–3
Q2 COL Harper 54-yard field goal COL 10–3
COL Michael Simmons 32-yard pass from Darian Hagan (Harper kick) COL 17–3
0:28 ILL Elbert Turner 8-yard pass from Jason Verduzco (Higgins kick) COL 17–10
Q3 2:28 ILL Shawn Wax 4-yard pass from Jason Verduzco (Higgins kick) Tied 17–17
COL Safety, Greg Biekert tackled Griffith in end zone COL 19–17
Q4 12:44 COL Harper 26-yard field goal COL 22–17
1:18 ILL Howard Griffith 1-yard run (conversion failed) ILL 23–22
[ 6]
Clemson (Hall of Fame Bowl)[ edit ]
1990 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Darrick Brownlow - linebacker (1st-team All-America pick by Football News ; 1st-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
Moe Gardner - defensive lineman (consensus 1st-team All-American; 1st-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
Howard Griffith - fullback (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
Doug Higgins - placekicker (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
Henry Jones - defensive back (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
Marlon Primous - defensive back (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
Tim Simpson -offensive guard (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
Shawn Wax - receiver (2nd-team all-Big Ten pick by AP)
^ "1990 Illinois Schedule and Results" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015 .
^ "1990 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015 .
^ Batterson, Steve (September 23, 1990). "Griffith levels Salukis" . Quad-City Times . p. 1E. Retrieved December 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Clemson 'D' gains Fame in 30–0 win" . The Tampa Tribune . January 2, 1991. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "1990 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results" . sports-reference.com . Retrieved November 20, 2016 .
^ "Illinois 23, Colorado 22" . United Press International . September 15, 1990. Retrieved January 1, 2019 .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
Western Conference Big Ten Big Nine Big Ten National championships in bold