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.
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).
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).
Schedule source:
Game summaries
Murray State
North Carolina
Western Michigan
At Nebraska
Purdue
At Rutgers
At Michigan
Minnesota
Michigan State
At #7 Wisconsin
Iowa
At Northwestern
Roster
Awards and honors
Weekly Weekly AwardsPlayerAwardDate AwardedRef. Patrick Nelson Big Ten Freshman of the Week October 17, 2016 Tré WatsonBig Ten Defensive Player of the WeekNovember 7, 2016
All-Conference All-Big TenPlayerSelection 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