2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Record	3–9 (2–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lovie Smith (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Garrick McGee (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Hardy Nickerson (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ←  2015 2017  →

2016 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 7 Penn State xy$		8	–	1					11	–	3
No. 6 Ohio State x^		8	–	1					11	–	2
No. 10 Michigan		7	–	2					10	–	3
Indiana		4	–	5					6	–	7
Maryland		3	–	6					6	–	7
Michigan State		1	–	8					3	–	9
Rutgers		0	–	9					2	–	10
West Division
No. 9 Wisconsin xy		7	–	2					11	–	3
Iowa		6	–	3					8	–	5
Nebraska		6	–	3					9	–	4
Minnesota		5	–	4					9	–	4
Northwestern		5	–	4					7	–	6
Illinois		2	–	7					3	–	9
Purdue		1	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

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. ^[1]

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). ^[2]

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).

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	2:30 pm	Murray State *	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 52–3	48,644
September 10	6:30 pm	North Carolina *	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 23–48	60,670
September 17	3:00 pm	Western Michigan *	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPNews	L 10–34	40,954
October 1	2:30 pm	at No. 15 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN2	L 16–31	90,374
October 8	2:30 pm	Purdue	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	BTN	L 31–34 OT	42,912
October 15	11:00 am	at Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium Piscataway, NJ	ESPNews	W 24–7	42,640
October 22	2:30 pm	at No. 3 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	BTN	L 8–41	111,103
October 29	11:00 am	Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 17–40	40,090
November 5	11:00 am	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPNews	W 31–27	47,144
November 12	2:30 pm	at No. 7 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	L 3–48	79,340
November 19	11:00 am	Iowa	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 0–28	39,031
November 26	11:00 am	at Northwestern	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (rivalry)	BTN	L 21–42	30,022
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule source: ^[3]

Game summaries

Murray State

See also: 2016 Murray State Racers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	0	3	0	0	3
Fighting Illini	14	21	7	10	52

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	17	7	7	17	48
Fighting Illini	14	2	0	7	23

See also: 2016 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

Western Michigan

See also: 2016 Western Michigan Broncos football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	14	10	3	7	34
Fighting Illini	0	7	3	0	10

At Nebraska

See also: 2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	13	3	0	16
#15 Cornhuskers	7	3	0	21	31

Purdue

See also: 2016 Purdue Boilermakers football team and Illinois–Purdue football rivalry

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Boilermakers	7	14	3	7	3	34
Fighting Illini	3	13	7	8	0	31

At Rutgers

See also: 2016 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	7	10	7	24
Scarlet Knights	0	0	0	7	7

At Michigan

See also: 2016 Michigan Wolverines football team and Illinois–Michigan football rivalry

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	0	0	8	8
#3 Wolverines	21	10	3	7	41

Minnesota

See also: 2016 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	14	0	7	19	40
Fighting Illini	7	0	7	3	17

Michigan State

See also: 2016 Michigan State Spartans football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	3	3	11	10	27
Fighting Illini	0	7	10	14	31

At #7 Wisconsin

See also: 2016 Wisconsin Badgers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	3	0	0	0	3
#7 Badgers	21	10	3	14	48

Iowa

See also: 2016 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	0	7	7	14	28
Fighting Illini	0	0	0	0	0

At Northwestern

See also: 2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	14	7	0	21
Wildcats	14	7	14	7	42

Roster

2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 2 Reggie Corbin  Fr QB 3 Jeff George, Jr.  Fr WR 4 D. J. Taylor Sr RB 5 Ke'Shawn Vaughn So RB 6 Tre Nation Fr QB 7 Chayce Crouch  So WR 9 Sam Mays So WR 11 Malik Turner Jr QB 12 Wes Lunt  Sr TE 13 Caleb Reams  Fr QB 14 Cam Miller Fr WR 15 M. J. McGriff Fr WR 16 Zarrian Holcombe Fr WR 18 Mike Dudek  So WR 19 Justin Hardee  Sr WR 21 Man Berg  Sr RB 22 Kendrick Foster  Jr WR 25 Trenard Davis  Fr RB 27 Dre Brown  Fr RB 29 Christian Bobak Fr DB 36 Austin Roberts  So RB 39 Nathan Echard  Jr OL 52 Adam Solomon  Fr OL 53 Nick Allegretti  So OL 57 Austin Schmidt Sr OL 61 Darta Lee Fr OL 65 Doug Kramer Fr OL 66 Jordan Fagan Jr OL 67 Christian DiLauro  Jr OL 68 Matt Long  Fr OL 70 Eddy Fish Fr OL 71 Joe Spencer  Sr OL 72 Gabe Megginson  Fr OL 73 Jake Cerny Fr OL 74 Connor Brennan Fr OL 75 Kurt Gavin Fr OL 78 Harry Black Sr OL 79 Zach Heath  Jr TE 80 Ainslie Johnson Sr TE 81 Griffin Palmer Fr WR 82 Samuel Harlib  Jr TE 83 Bobby Walker  Fr WR 84 Dominic Thieman Fr TE 85 Andrew Trainer  Fr WR 86 Desmond Cain So TE 87 Tyler White Sr WR 88 Zach Grant  Sr TE 89 Andrew Davis Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 1 Jaylen Dunlap  Jr LB 2 Julian Jones So DB 3 Taylor Barton  Sr DB 4 Darwyn Kelly  Jr LB 5 James Crawford  Jr DL 6 Carroll Phillips  Sr DB 7 Caleb Day Sr DB 8 Dillan Cazley Sr LB 9 Dele Harding Fr LB 10 Hardy Nickerson Jr.  Sr DL 11 Chunky Clements Sr DB 12 Chris James  So DL 14 Gimel President  Sr DL 16 Rob Bain  Sr DB 17 Stanley Green Fr DB 20 Harvey Clayton, Jr. Fr DB 21 Patrick Nelson  Fr DB 23 Frank Sumpter  Fr DB 24 Darius Mosely Sr DB 26 Evan Jones Fr DB 27 Ahmari Hayes  Jr DB 30 Julian Hylton  So DB 31 Cameron Watkins  Fr LB 32 Justice Williams  Fr LB 33 Tré Watson  Fr LB 34 Christion Abercrombie Fr LB 35 Jake Hansen Fr DB 37 Zach Holman  So LB 40 Mike Svetina  Sr LB 41 Jimmy Marchese  Fr DL 42 Brandon Jones Fr LB 44 Drew Murtaugh Fr DL 45 Henry McGrew  So DL 47 Sean Adesanya  So LB 52 Ayo Shogbonyo Fr DL 55 Jamal Milan  Fr DL 76 Zeke Martin  Fr DL 85 Brandon Roberts  Jr DL 91 Dawuane Smoot Sr DL 94 Tito Odenigbo  So DL 95 Kenyon Jackson Fr DL 96 Tymir Oliver Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 13 Ryan Frain Sr K 17 James McCourt Fr K, P 38 David Reisner  Sr P 40 Ryan Tucker  So K 43 Chase McLaughlin  Fr LS 56 Michael Martin  Sr LS 58 Sean Mills Fr	Head coach Lovie Smith Coordinators/assistant coaches 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 Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: October 13, 2016

Awards and honors

Weekly Weekly Awards Player Award Date Awarded Ref. Patrick Nelson Big Ten Freshman of the Week October 17, 2016 [4] Tré Watson Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week November 7, 2016 [5]

All-Conference All-Big Ten [6] [7] Player Selection 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

1. "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
2. "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
3. "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
4. "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference . Big Ten Conference. October 17, 2016. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
5. "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference . Big Ten Conference. November 7, 2016. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
6. "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. November 29, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
7. "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2016.