2010 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

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2010 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Michigan State +		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 7 Wisconsin $+		7	–	1					11	–	2
Iowa		4	–	4					8	–	5
Illinois		4	–	4					7	–	6
Penn State		4	–	4					7	–	6
Michigan		3	–	5					7	–	6
Northwestern		3	–	5					7	–	6
Purdue		2	–	6					4	–	8
Minnesota		2	–	6					3	–	9
Indiana		1	–	7					5	–	7
No. 5 Ohio State† %		0	–	1					0	–	1
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions † – Ohio State (12–1, 7–1) self-vacated all of their wins Rankings from AP Poll

The 2010 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini, led by sixth-year head coach Ron Zook, are members of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in Big Ten play and were intited to the Texas Bowl where they defeated Baylor 38–14.

Schedule

September 411:30 AMvs. Missouri*

• Edward Jones Dome
• St. Louis, MO (Arch Rivalry)

FSNL 13–23 58,060 September 116:30 PMSouthern Illinois*

• Memorial Stadium
• Champaign, IL

BTNW 35–3 52,217 September 1811:00 AMNorthern Illinois*

• Memorial Stadium
• Champaign, IL

BTNW 28–22 50,569 October 211:00 AMNo. 2 Ohio State

• Memorial Stadium
• Champaign, IL (Illibuck)

BTNL 13–24 62,870 October 911:00 AMat Penn State

• Beaver Stadium
• University Park, PA

ESPN2W 33–13 107,638 October 1611:00 AMat No. 11 Michigan State

• Spartan Stadium
• East Lansing, MI

BTNL 6–26 74,441 October 2311:00 AMIndiana

• Memorial Stadium
• Champaign, IL

BTNW 43–13 53,550 October 3011:00 AMPurdue

• Memorial Stadium
• Champaign, IL (Purdue Cannon)

ESPN2W 44–10 50,371 November 611:00 AMat Michigan

• Michigan Stadium
• Ann Arbor, MI

ESPNL 65–67 ^3OT111,441 November 1311:00 AMMinnesota

• Memorial Stadium
• Champaign, IL

BTNL 34–38 55,549 November 202:30 PMat No. 25 Northwestern

• Wrigley Field
• Chicago, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy)

ESPNUW 48–27 41,058 December 39:15 PMat Fresno State*

• Bulldog Stadium
• Fresno, CA

ESPN2L 23–25 30,625 December 295:00 PMvs. Baylor*

• Reliant Stadium
• Houston, TX (Texas Bowl)

ESPNW 38–14 68,211

Penn State

Game 5 marked the second Big Ten Conference game for Illinois, and pitted them against Penn State. The previous week, Illinois had suffered a tough loss at home against Ohio State, and many expected the Illini's next game at Penn State to end up in a loss due to the Fighting Illini's history versus the Nitanny Lions. Illinois came into the game sporting an abysmal 3–14 (.214 W pct.) career standing against the Nittany Lions. The Illini also came into the game with the dubious distinction of having never secured a victory at Beaver Stadium in State College. History wasn't on the Illini's side, but this was a different team.

In addition to the Illini's poor historical performance against the Nittany Lions, the Illini faced another disadvantage as the game at Penn State was to take place on Homecoming weekend. The faithful Penn State alumni would be flocking toward Beaver Stadium in hopes of a rousing Homecoming victory for their beloved team, and a sellout was all but assured as soon as the schedule was printed. The last time Illinois had played at Penn State was in 2008 and the game was a racous event. Penn State was labeling the nationally televised sellout game as a "White-Out" in revenge for the Illini's shocking upset victory at home against Penn State in the 2007 season that ultimately culminated in a Rose Bowl berth for the Illini. The stage was too much for the Illini in the "White-Out" game, and #22 Illinois fell to #12 Penn State 24–38. All of these factors were to be disadvantages for Illinois, but the Illini came in as a battled tested group that hung in with Missouri and Ohio State and was eager to secure their first big victory of the season.

The game was a shocking success for the Illini as they went on to crush Penn State 33–13. The Illini looked great in nearly all phases of the game playing steady offense, turnover defense, and a special trick play TD pass from running back Jason Ford to tight end Evan Wilson. This performance helped the Illini overcome shoddy punt returning, as Jack Ramsey fumbled 3 punts on the day. Shocking the Nittany Lions at home on Homecoming weekend went on to inspire the Illini, who went on to secure a Texas Bowl berth and win to cap off a successful 7–6 season, when most analysts picked the Illini to finish at the bottom of the Big Ten and go bowl-less for a third consecutive year.

Northwestern

Illinois at Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • Illinois 21 6 7 14 48 Northwestern 14 10 0 3 27 Date: Saturday, November 20 Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois Game start: 3:30 p.m. EST Source: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 13:43 Illinois Mikel Leshoure 4-yard run (Derek Dimke kick) Illinois 7-0 1 10:06 Illinois Mikel Leshoure 1-yard run (Derek Dimke kick) Illinois 14-0 1 6:10 Northwestern Brian Peters 59-yard interception return (Stefan Demos kick) Illinois 14-7 1 4:52 Illinois Jason Ford 5-yard run (Derek Dimke kick) Illinois 21-7 1 1:00 Northwestern Mike Trumpy 80-yard run (Stefan Demos kick) Illinois 21-14 2 11:55 Illinois Derek Dimke 45-yard field goal Illinois 24-14 2 7:19 Northwestern Stefan Demos 31-yard field goal Illinois 24-17 2 2:53 Northwestern Mike Trumpy 2-yard run (Stefan Demos kick) Tie 24-24 2 :00 Illinois Derek Dimke 39-yard field goal Illinois 27-24 3 6:50 Illinois A.J. Jenkins 10-yard pass from Nathan Scheelhaase (Derek Dimke kick) Illinois 34-24 4 9:49 Illinois Jason Ford 2-yard run (Derek Dimke kick) Illinois 41-24 4 7:43 Northwestern Stefan Demos 25-yard field goal Illinois 41-27 4 :36 Illinois Jason Ford 1-yard run (Derek Dimke kick) Illinois 48-27