2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

American college football season February 2026 August 2023 football 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois Fighting Illini logo.svg 150px Big Ten Conference West Division Big Ten 3–9 2–7 Lovie Smith 1st Garrick McGee 1st Hardy Nickerson 1st Multiple 4–3 Memorial Stadium The 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. In their first season under head coach Lovie Smith, the Fighting Illini compiled a 3–9 record (2–7 in conference games), finished in sixth place out of seven teams in the Big Ten's West Division, and were outscored by a total of 383 to 236.2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football July 25, 2025 https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/illinois/2016-schedule.html The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Wes Lunt (1,376 passing yards), running back Kendrick Foster (720 rushing yards), wide receiver Malik Turner (48 receptions for 712 yards), and kicker Chase McLaughlin (62 points scored, 26 of 26 extra points, 12 of 17 field goals).2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats Sports Reference LLC SR/College Football July 25, 2025 https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/illinois/2016.html The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Schedule The Illini hosted all three non–conference games which were against the Murray State Racers from the Ohio Valley Conference, North Carolina Tar Heels from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and the Western Michigan Broncos from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). 2016 AP Poll released prior to game Central September 3 2:30 pm w y Murray State Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL BTN 52–3 48,644 September 10 6:30 pm l y North Carolina Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL BTN 23–48 60,670 September 17 3:00 pm l y Western Michigan Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL ESPNews 10–34 40,954 October 1 2:30 pm l y Nebraska 15 Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE ESPN2 16–31 90,374 October 8 2:30 pm l Purdue rivalry Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL BTN 31–34 OT 42,912 October 15 11:00 am w y Rutgers High Point Solutions Stadium Piscataway, NJ ESPNews 24–7 42,640 October 22 2:30 pm l y Michigan 3 Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI rivalry BTN 8–41 111,103 October 29 11:00 am l y Minnesota Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL BTN 17–40 40,090 November 5 11:00 am w Michigan State Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL ESPNews 31–27 47,144 November 12 2:30 pm l y Wisconsin 7 Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI ESPN2 3–48 79,340 November 19 11:00 am l Iowa Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL BTN 0–28 39,031 November 26 11:00 am l y Northwestern rivalry Ryan Field Evanston, IL BTN 21–42 30,022 Schedule source:2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Football Schedule http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-16/2016-illinois-fighting-illini-football-schedule.php FB Schedules December 6, 2015 Game summaries Murray State 2016 Murray State Racers football team Racers 0 3 0 0 Fighting Illini 14 21 7 10 North Carolina Tar Heels 17 7 7 17 Fighting Illini 14 2 0 7 2016 North Carolina Tar Heels football team Western Michigan 2016 Western Michigan Broncos football team Broncos 14 10 3 7 Fighting Illini 0 7 3 0 At Nebraska 2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team Fighting Illini 0 13 3 0 #15 Cornhuskers 7 3 0 21 Purdue 2016 Purdue Boilermakers football team Illinois–Purdue football rivalry Boilermakers 7 14 3 7 3 Fighting Illini 3 13 7 8 0 At Rutgers 2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team Fighting Illini 0 7 10 7 Scarlet Knights 0 0 0 7 At Michigan 2016 Michigan Wolverines football team Illinois–Michigan football rivalry Fighting Illini 0 0 0 8 #3 Wolverines 21 10 3 7 Minnesota 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team Golden Gophers 14 0 7 19 Fighting Illini 7 0 7 3 Michigan State 2016 Michigan State Spartans football team Spartans 3 3 11 10 Fighting Illini 0 7 10 14 At #7 Wisconsin 2016 Wisconsin Badgers football team Fighting Illini 3 0 0 0 #7 Badgers 21 10 3 14 Iowa 2016 Iowa Hawkeyes football team Hawkeyes 0 7 7 14 Fighting Illini 0 0 0 0 At Northwestern 2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry Fighting Illini 0 14 7 0 Wildcats 14 7 14 7 Roster 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini y 2 FR Reggie Corbin RB y 3 FR Jeff George, Jr. QB y 4 SR D. J. Taylor WR 5 SO Ke'Shawn Vaughn RB y 6 FR Tre Nation RB 7 SO Chayce Crouch QB y 9 SO Sam Mays WR 11 JR Malik Turner WR y Malik Turner (American football) 12 SR Wes Lunt QB y y 13 FR Caleb Reams TE y 14 FR Cam Miller QB 15 FR M. J. McGriff WR 16 FR Zarrian Holcombe WR 18 SO Mike Dudek WR y y 19 SR Justin Hardee WR y 21 SR Man Berg WR y 22 JR Kendrick Foster RB y 25 FR Trenard Davis WR y 27 FR Dre Brown RB y 29 FR Christian Bobak RB 36 SO Austin Roberts DB y 39 JR Nathan Echard RB y 52 FR Adam Solomon OL y 53 SO Nick Allegretti OL y y 57 SR Austin Schmidt OL 61 FR Darta Lee OL 65 FR Doug Kramer OL y Doug Kramer (American football) 66 JR Jordan Fagan OL 67 JR Christian DiLauro OL y y 68 FR Matt Long OL y 70 FR Eddy Fish OL 71 SR Joe Spencer OL y 72 FR Gabe Megginson OL y 73 FR Jake Cerny OL 74 FR Connor Brennan OL 75 FR Kurt Gavin OL 78 SR Harry Black OL 79 JR Zach Heath OL y 80 SR Ainslie Johnson TE 81 FR Griffin Palmer TE 82 JR Samuel Harlib WR y 83 FR Bobby Walker TE y 84 FR Dominic Thieman WR 85 FR Andrew Trainer TE y 86 SO Desmond Cain WR 87 SR Tyler White TE 88 SR Zach Grant WR y 89 SR Andrew Davis TE 1 JR Jaylen Dunlap DB y 2 SO Julian Jones LB 3 SR Taylor Barton DB y 4 JR Darwyn Kelly DB y 5 JR James Crawford LB y y James Crawford (American football) 6 SR Carroll Phillips DL y y 7 SR Caleb Day DB 8 SR Dillan Cazley DB 9 FR Dele Harding LB 10 SR Hardy Nickerson Jr. LB y y 11 SR Chunky Clements DL y 12 SO Chris James DB y 14 SR Gimel President DL y 16 SR Rob Bain DL y 17 FR Stanley Green DB 20 FR Harvey Clayton, Jr. DB 21 FR Patrick Nelson DB y 23 FR Frank Sumpter DB y 24 SR Darius Mosely DB 26 FR Evan Jones DB 27 JR Ahmari Hayes DB y 30 SO Julian Hylton DB y 31 FR Cameron Watkins DB y 32 FR Justice Williams LB y 33 FR Tré Watson LB y 34 FR Christion Abercrombie LB 35 FR Jake Hansen LB y Jake Hansen (American football) 37 SO Zach Holman DB y 40 SR Mike Svetina LB y 41 FR Jimmy Marchese LB y 42 FR Brandon Jones DL 44 FR Drew Murtaugh LB 45 SO Henry McGrew DL y 47 SO Sean Adesanya DL y 52 FR Ayo Shogbonyo LB 55 FR Jamal Milan DL y 76 FR Zeke Martin DL y 85 JR Brandon Roberts DL y 91 SR Dawuane Smoot DL y 94 SO Tito Odenigbo DL y 95 FR Kenyon Jackson DL 96 FR Tymir Oliver DL 13 SR Ryan Frain P 17 FR James McCourt K y James McCourt (American football) 38 SR David Reisner K P y 40 SO Ryan Tucker P y 43 FR Chase McLaughlin K y y 56 SR Michael Martin LS y 58 FR Sean Mills LS http://www.fightingillini.com/roster.aspx?path=football October 13, 2016 Lovie Smith Garrick McGee – Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Hardy Nickerson – Defensive Coordinator Mike Phair – Defensive Line Bob Ligashesky – Special Teams Coordinator / Tight Ends Luke Butkus – Offensive Line Andrew Hayes-Stoker – Wide Receivers Tim McGarigle – Linebackers Thad Ward – Running Backs Paul Williams – Defensive Backs Joe Fotu - Graduate Assistant - Defense Tyler Johns - Graduate Assistant - Offense Brett Nelson - Graduate Assistant - Offense Robert Wright - Graduate Assistant - Defense Dean Hogan - Special Teams Analyst Kingsley Osei-Asibey - Defensive Analyst Nathan Scheelhaase - Offensive Analyst Tim Knox - Director of Football Operations Josh Sternquist - Director of Player Personnel Patrick Embleton - Director of Football Student-Athlete Development Nathan McNeal - Director of High School Relations Travis Perry - Graphics/Social Media Nina Baloun - Recruiting Assistant James Kirkland - Recruiting Analyst Joey Boese - Head Football Strength & Conditioning Coach Jeremy Busch - Head Football Athletic Trainer Trent Chestnut - Head Football Equipment Manager Alex Benizzi - Director of Football Video Awards and honors Weekly Weekly AwardsPlayerAwardDate AwardedRef. Patrick Nelson Big Ten Freshman of the Week October 17, 2016 http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/101716aaa.html Big Ten Football Players of the Week October 17, 2016 Big Ten Conference Big Ten Conference November 16, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161117064458/http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/101716aaa.html November 17, 2016 dead Tré WatsonBig Ten Defensive Player of the WeekNovember 7, 2016http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/110716aaa.html Big Ten Football Players of the Week November 7, 2016 Big Ten Conference Big Ten Conference November 16, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161113140829/http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/110716aaa.html November 13, 2016 dead mdy-all All-Conference All-Big Tenhttp://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/FBTuesAllB1G.pdf 2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners November 29, 2016 Big Ten Conference www.grfx.cstv.com November 30, 2016 November 29, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161129231830/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/FBTuesAllB1G.pdf dead http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/16fbawardwinners.pdf 2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners Big Ten Conference www.grfx.cstv.com December 1, 2016 September 28, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180928055540/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/16fbawardwinners.pdf dead PlayerSelection Dawuane Smoot Third Team (Coaches & Media) Hardy Nickerson Jr. Honorable Mention (Coaches & Media) Carroll Phillips First Team (Media)Honorable Mention (Coaches) Joe Spencer Honorable Mention (Media) Tré Watson Honorable Mention (Media) References Illinois Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football seasons Illinois Fighting Illini football