1987 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1987 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their eighth and final year under head coach Mike White, the Illini compiled a 3–7–1 record and finished in eighth place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1]

1987 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	3–7–1 (2–5–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Mike White (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dwain Painter (1st season)
MVP	Darryl Usher
Captain	Mike Scully, Mike Piel, Darrick Brownlow
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1986 1988 →

1987 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 Michigan State $	7	–	0	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
No. 16 Iowa	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Indiana	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Michigan	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ohio State	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Illinois	2	–	5	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
Wisconsin	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Scott Mohr with 1,436 passing yards, running back Keith Jones with 322 rushing yards, and Darryl Usher with 723 receiving yards.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	at North Carolina*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	L 14–34	40,000	^[3]
September 12	No. 15 Arizona State*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 7–21	70,060
September 19	East Carolina*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 20–10	62,045	^[4]
October 3	No. 9 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	L 6–10	73,045
October 10	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 3–9	59,483
October 17	Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 16–14	57,040
October 24	at No. 14 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	T 14–14	76,513
October 31	Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 27–17	60,143
November 7	at No. 18 Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 22–34	50,026
November 14	Michigan	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 14–17	64,496
November 21	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 10–28	27,104
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1987 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Mike Bellamy Jr RB 29 Howard Griffith Fr TE 82 Frank Hartley So C 66 Dave Harbour Sr RB 36 Keith Jones Jr FB 44 Jeff Markland Sr QB 12 Brian Menkhausen So TE 80 Chris Michel Jr QB 14 Scott Mohr Jr QB 10 Chris Ondrula Fr WR 83 Gus Palma Fr FB 20 Quintin Parker So OT 78 Ed Pedersen Fr RB 23 Luke Petraitis So OT 70 Tom Schertz Sr OT 68 Craig Schneider So C 55 Mike Scully Sr C 53 Tim Scully Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 96 Mel Agee Fr LB 48 Darrick Brownlow Fr DE 90 Scott Davis Sr DT 95 Moe Gardner Fr LB 57 Jason Guard So NT 94 Jon Gustafson Fr DB 25 Jerry Hamner Fr DE 75 Mike Piel Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Mike White Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Roster

References

1. "1987 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
2. "1987 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
3. "Punter's run sparks Tar Heels over Illinois". The Pantagraph. September 6, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Illini go to relief pitchers, win 20–10". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 20, 1987. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.