2009 Illinois Fighting Illini football team
The 2009 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois during the 2009–2010 college football season. The team's head football coach was Ron Zook. The Illini played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. This was Ron Zook's fifth season as the Illini head coach. The Illini finished the season 3–9 (2–6 Big Ten). The Illini failed to live up to the lofty preseason expectations, receiving almost enough votes in the AP Poll to be ranked (and were said to be the unofficial #26 ranked team in the AP Poll because of this), and even were considered a dark horse candidate for the Big Ten championship. But after their blowout loss to Missouri, they failed to receive any votes, and failed to show any improvement until the Michigan State game, which followed blowout losses to Penn State and Ohio State, but by late in the season, they were able to upset Michigan and Minnesota while also giving Cincinnati a game.
Schedule
| Date |
Time |
Opponent# |
Rank# |
Site |
TV |
Result |
Attendance |
| September 5 |
2:40 p.m. |
vs. Missouri* |
|
Edward Jones Dome • St. Louis, Missouri (Arch Rivalry) |
ESPN |
L 9–37 |
64,215[1] |
| September 12 |
6:00 p.m. |
Illinois State* |
|
Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois |
BTN |
W 45–17 |
62,347[2] |
| September 26 |
2:30 pm |
at Ohio State |
|
Ohio Stadium • Columbus, Ohio (Illibuck) |
ABC |
L 0–30 |
105,219[3] |
| October 3 |
2:30 PM |
#13 Penn State |
|
Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois |
ABC |
L 17–35 |
62,870[4] |
| October 10 |
11:00 a.m. |
Michigan State |
|
Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois |
BTN |
L 14–24 |
62,870[5] |
| October 17 |
6:00 p.m. |
at Indiana |
|
Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, Indiana |
BTN |
L 14–27 |
42,358[6] |
| October 24 |
11:00am |
at Purdue |
|
Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue Cannon) |
ESPN2 |
L 14–24 |
47,349[7] |
| October 31 |
2:30 p.m. |
Michigan |
|
Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois |
ABC |
W 38–13 |
60,119[8] |
| November 7 |
11:00 a.m. |
at Minnesota |
|
TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, Minnesota |
BTN |
W 35–32 |
50,805[9] |
| November 14 |
11:00 am |
Northwestern |
|
Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois (Land of Lincoln Trophy) |
ESPN Classic |
L 16–21 |
60,523[10] |
| November 27 |
11:00 am |
at Cincinnati* |
|
Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio |
ABC |
L 36–49 |
35,106[11] |
| December 5 |
11:30 a.m. |
Fresno State* |
|
Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois |
BTN |
L 52–53 |
48,538[12] |
| *Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP / Coaches Polls released prior to game.. All times are in Central Time. |
See also
References
External links
|
|
|
| Venues |
|
|
| Bowls & rivalries |
|
|
| Culture & lore |
|
|
| People |
|
|
| Seasons |
|
|
|
National championship seasons in bold
|
|