1942 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1942 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1942 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first season under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 6–4 record and finished in a tie for third place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1] Illinois was ranked at No. 11 (out of 590 college and military teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1942.^[2]

1942 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–4 (3–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ray Eliot (1st season)
MVP	Elmer Engel
Captain	Jimmy Smith
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1941 1943 →

1942 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Ohio State $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Wisconsin	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	1	–	1
No. 9 Michigan	3	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Illinois	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Minnesota	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Indiana	2	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Purdue	1	–	4	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

End Elmer Engel was selected as the team's most valuable player.^[3] Guard Alex Agase received second-team honorshonors from the United Press on the 1942 All-Big Ten Conference football team.^[4]

The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	South Dakota*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 46–0	7,500
October 3	Butler*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 67–0	10,000
October 10	Minnesota		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 20–13	24,276
October 17	at No. 19 Iowa	No. 5	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 12–7	25,600
October 24	No. 8 Notre Dame*	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 14–21	43,476
October 31	at No. 13 Michigan	No. 12	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 14–28	33,826
November 7	at Northwestern	No. 20	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	W 14–7	35,300
November 14	vs. No. 10 Ohio State	No. 13	Cleveland Stadium Cleveland, OH (Illibuck)	L 20–44	68,586
November 21	Great Lakes Navy*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 0–6	10,856	[5]
November 28	at Camp Grant*		Camp Grant Rockford, IL	W 20–0	5,000	[6]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1942 college football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final
AP	5 (18)	5 (1)	12	20	13	—	—	—