2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team


The 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Lovie Smith and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. They were members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 2–7 in Big Ten play to finish in sixth place in the West Division.

Schedule

The team will host all three non–conference games which are against the Murray State Racers from the Ohio Valley Conference, North Carolina Tar Heels from the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the Western Michigan Broncos from the Mid-American Conference.

Game summaries

Murray State

North Carolina

Overall recordLast meetingResult
0–32015UNC, 48–14

Western Michigan

Overall recordLast meetingResult
4–12012ILL, 24–7

at Nebraska

Overall recordLast meetingResult
3–9–12015ILL, 14–13

Purdue

Overall recordLast meetingResult
44–41–62015ILL, 48–14

at Rutgers

Overall recordLast meetingResult
1–12006RUTG, 33–0

at Michigan

Overall recordLast meetingResult
23–69–22012MICH, 45–0

Minnesota

Overall recordLast meetingResult
29–36–32015MINN, 32–23

Michigan State

Overall recordLast meetingResult
17–26–22013MSU, 42–3

at #7 Wisconsin

Overall recordLast meetingResult
37–39–72015WISC, 24–13

Iowa

Overall recordLast meetingResult
38–31–22015IOWA, 29–20

at Northwestern

Overall recordLast meetingResult
55–49–52015NW, 24–14

Roster

Awards and honors

Weekly
PlayerAwardDate AwardedRef.
Patrick NelsonBig Ten Freshman of the WeekOctober 17, 2016
Tré WatsonBig Ten Defensive Player of the WeekNovember 7, 2016

All-Conference
PlayerSelection
Dawuane SmootThird Team
Hardy NickersonHonorable Mention
Carroll PhillipsFirst Team
Honorable Mention
Joe SpencerHonorable Mention
Tré WatsonHonorable Mention