1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 30–0 vs. East Carolina
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–5 (4–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lou Tepper (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Greg Landry (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Denny Marcin (3rd season)
MVP	Dana Howard
Captain	Pete Gabrione, John Holecek, Dana Howard, Jon Kerr
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1994 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Penn State $	8	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 14 Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 12 Michigan	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Purdue	3	–	3	–	2			5	–	4	–	2
Iowa	3	–	4	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Michigan State †	0	–	8	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion † Michigan State forfeited 5 wins including 4 conference victories, over Wisconsin, Indiana, Northwestern, and Purdue. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Lou Tepper, the Fighting Illini compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing fifth in the Big Ten. Illinois was invited to the Liberty Bowl, where the Illini defeated East Carolina. The team played home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	7:30 pm	vs. Washington State*	No. 22	Soldier Field Chicago, IL		L 9–10	39,472
September 10	1:00 pm	Missouri*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 42–0	64,305
September 17	1:00 pm	Northern Illinois*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 34–10	55,327
October 1	1:00 pm	Purdue	No. 25	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		L 16–22	58,338
October 8	2:30 pm	at No. 17 Ohio State		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	ABC	W 24–10	93,351
October 15	1:00 pm	Iowa		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 47–7	59,573
October 22	2:30 pm	No. 11 Michigan		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	ABC	L 14–19	72,677
October 29	1:00 pm	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)		W 28–7	40,365
November 5	1:30 pm	at Minnesota		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		W 21–17	35,069
November 12	2:30 pm	No. 2 Penn State		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ABC	L 31–35	72,364
November 19	2:30 pm	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ABC	L 13–19	77,745
December 31	12:00 pm	vs. East Carolina*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	ESPN	W 30–0	33,280	[1]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[2]

Roster

1994 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 73 Ken Blackman Jr TE 86 Matt Cushing Fr TE 87 Ken Dilger Sr QB 13 Johnny Johnson Jr RB 38 George McDonald Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 51 Kevin Hardy Jr LB 52 John Holecek Sr DE 97 Simeon Rice Jr CB 29 Scott Turner Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Lou Tepper Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Ken Dilger	Tight end	2	48	Indianapolis Colts

References

1. "Illini leave East Carolina in a daze". The News and Observer. January 1, 1995. Retrieved March 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "1994 Illinois Football Schedule". College Football Reference. Retrieved January 6, 2014.