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2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Fighting Illini logo.svg
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Champions
Conference Big Ten Conference
Division Leaders Division
2011 record 7–6 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach Ron Zook
(fired November 27, 2011)
Vic Koenning
(interim)
Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino
Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning
Home stadium Memorial Stadium
(Capacity: 60,670)
Seasons
← 2010
2012 →
2011 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Legends Division
#11 Michigan State x   7 – 1         11 – 3  
#12 Michigan %   6 – 2         11 – 2  
#24 Nebraska   5 – 3         9 – 4  
Iowa   4 – 4         7 – 6  
Northwestern   3 – 5         6 – 7  
Minnesota   2 – 6         3 – 9  
Leaders Division
#10 Wisconsin xy$   6 – 2         11 – 3  
Penn State x   6 – 2         9 – 4  
Purdue   4 – 4         7 – 6  
Ohio State   3 – 5         6 – 7  
Illinois   2 – 6         7 – 6  
Indiana   0 – 8         1 – 11  
Championship: Wisconsin 42, Michigan State 39
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
As of January 10, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll
Arkansas State at Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Arkansas State 0 8 0 7 15
• Illinois 7 10 13 3 33
South Dakota State at Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
South Dakota State 0 3 0 0 3
• Illinois 21 14 14 7 56
Arizona State at Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
#22 Arizona State 7 0 0 7 14
• Illinois 10 0 0 7 17
Western Michigan at Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Western Michigan 3 10 0 7 20
• #24 Illinois 7 3 10 3 23
Northwestern at Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Northwestern 0 14 14 7 35
• #24 Illinois 7 3 7 21 38
Illinois at Indiana
1 2 3 4 Total
• #19 Illinois 14 13 7 7 41
Indiana 10 3 0 7 20
Ohio State at Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
• Ohio State 3 0 7 7 17
#16 Illinois 0 0 0 7 7

The 2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini, who were led during the regular season by seventh-year head coach Ron Zook, are members of the Big Ten Conference in the Legends Division and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. Zook was fired after the team lost the final six games of its regular season. Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning was appointed as interim head coach led the team in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. On December 9, Illinois hired Tim Beckman as their new permanent head coach.

The Illini set a record that season, becoming the first NCAA FBS team to start their season off 6–0, but finish 6–6. The team's failure was largely due to the weakness of their schedule, with just four of their six wins coming against teams that ended up going to a bowl game (Arizona State, Arkansas State, Northwestern, and Western Michigan). All of their six losses came against Big Ten Conference opponents.

Before the team's appearance in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, nearly all of their assistant coaches were fired, as well as head coach Ron Zook.

The 2011 season ended with a 7–6 overall record, 2–6 in Big Ten play to finish 5th in Leaders Division, with a victory over UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

Illinois opened the year at home for the first time since 2006. The opener was the first of eight home games for the Illini. After a slow start and falling behind 8–7 with 2:50 left in the 2nd quarter, the Illini scored a touchdown and a late field goal to take a 17 8 halftime lead. The offense continued to roll in the 2nd half as Illinois extended the lead to win the contest 33 15.

Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase led the Illini offense, finishing 16 for 23 on pass attempts totaling in 267 yards and two touchdowns. A.J. Jenkins was a favorite target for Scheelhaase, grabbing 11 receptions for 148 yards and 1 TD. Darius Millines also hauled in a TD and finished with 119 yards on 5 receptions. Jason Ford led the rushing attack with 86 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns.


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