1928 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1928 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1928 Big Ten season. In their 16th season under head coach Robert Zuppke, the Illini compiled a 7–1 record (4–1 in conference games), won the Big Ten championship, shut out five of eight opponent, and outscored all opponents by a total of 145 to 16.^[1] The team was ranked No. 6 in the Dickinson System ratings released in December 1928.^[2]

1928 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Big Ten champion
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–1 (4–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Robert Zuppke (16th season)
Captain	Butch Nowack
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Uniform
Seasons ← 1927 1929 →

1928 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Illinois $	4	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Wisconsin	3	–	1	–	1			7	–	1	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Iowa	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	2	–	0
Ohio State	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	2	–	1
Purdue	2	–	2	–	1			5	–	2	–	1
Northwestern	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Michigan	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	4	–	1
Indiana	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	4	–	0
Chicago	0	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from Dickinson System

Tackle Butch Nowack was the team captain.^[3] Nowack also recived first-team honors from the AP, UP, and Walter Eckersall on the 1928 All-Big Ten Conference football team.^[4][5][6] Guard Russ Crane received second-team All-Big Ten honors from Eckersall.^[6]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 6	2:30 p.m.	Bradley*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 33–6	21,477	[7][8]
October 13		Coe*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 31–0	8,562	[9]
October 20		Indiana	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 13–7	26,683	[10]
October 27		at Northwestern	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 6–0	59,871–63,000	[11]
November 3		Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 0–3	78,229	[12]
November 10		at Butler*	Butler Bowl Indianapolis, IN	W 14–0	9,448–14,000	[13]
November 17		Chicago	Stagg Field Chicago, IL	W 40–0	48,714	[14]
November 24		at Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck)	W 8–0	35,712	[15]
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Central time

Roster

Player	Position
Butch Nowack (Captain)	Tackle, Kicker
Russ Crane	Guard
Oliver M. 'Pete' Langhorst
Judson Timm	Halfback
Fritz Humbert	Fullback
Rinquist
Dwight Stuessy	Quarterback
Doug Mills	Fullback, Punter
Frank Walker	Fullback
Tom Nickol	Fullback
John Tarwain	End
James Lewis
Forrest 'Frosty' Peters	Kicker, Quarterback
Walter Jolley	End
Carl H. Bergeson
Keston J. Deimling	Guard
Rouse
Ken Fields	Quarterback
Louis Gordon	Guard
L. J. Wietz	Tackle
L. S. Burdick	Tackle
Norman McClure	Guard
Chuck Hall	Halfback
Robert Z. Hickman
H. E. Richman
Otto R. Hills
Olaf Robinson	Halfback
Lou Gordon	Tackle, Guard, End

^{[citation needed]}

• Head coach: Robert Zuppke (15th year at Illinois)