1965 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1965 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record6–4 (4–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPJim Grabowski
CaptainJim Grabowski, Don Hansen
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1964
1966 →
1965 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Michigan State $ 7 0 0 10 1 0
Ohio State 6 1 0 7 2 0
Purdue 5 2 0 7 2 1
Minnesota 5 2 0 5 4 1
Illinois 4 3 0 6 4 0
Northwestern 3 4 0 4 6 0
Michigan 2 5 0 4 6 0
Wisconsin 2 5 0 2 7 1
Indiana 1 6 0 2 8 0
Iowa 0 7 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1965 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois in the 1965 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth season under head coach Pete Elliott, the Illini compiled a 6–4 (4–3 against Big Ten Conference opponents), outscored opponents 235 to 118, and finished fifth in the Big Ten.[1] Fullback Jim Grabowski was selected as the team's most valuable player, received the team's most valuable player award, and was a consensus pick for the 1965 College Football All-America Team.[2][3]

Schedule[edit]

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 18Oregon State*L 10–1234,000
September 25SMU*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 42–045,175
October 2at No. 9 Michigan StateL 12–2271,237
October 9at Ohio StateL 14–2883,712
October 16Indiana
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 34–1361,257
October 23Duke*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL
W 28–1447,077
October 30No. 6 Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
W 21–059,507
November 6Michigan
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Champaign, IL (rivalry)
L 3–2350,136[4]
November 13at WisconsinW 51–055,192
November 20at NorthwesternW 20–641,348
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[5]

Awards and honors[edit]

Team players in the NFL[edit]

Player Round Pick Position Club
Jim Grabowski 1 9 Running back Green Bay Packers
Don Hansen 3 42 Linebacker Minnesota Vikings
Ron Acks 4 57 Defensive end Minnesota Vikings
Sam Price 16 240 Defensive end New York Giants
Gary Eickman 17 254 Defensive end New York Giants
Kai Anderson 18 268 Defensive end New York Giants
Dale Greco 18 270 Defensive tackle Minnesota Vikings

[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1965 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  3. ^ "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  4. ^ Bob Pille (November 7, 1965). "M Beats Illini For Bump, As Usual, 23-3". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1C, 2C – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "All Time Scores". University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  6. ^ "1966 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.