1955 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1955 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 1955 Big Ten season. In their 14th year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Fighting Illini compiled a 5–3–1 record (3–3–1 in conference games), finished in fifth place in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 149 to 114.^[1]

1955 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	5–3–1 (3–3–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ray Eliot (14th season)
MVP	Em Lindbeck
Captain	Game captains
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1954 1956 →

1955 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Ohio State $	6	–	0	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
No. 2 Michigan State	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Michigan	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Purdue	4	–	2	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Illinois	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Iowa	2	–	3	–	1			3	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Indiana	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	6	–	1			0	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Quarterback Em Lindbeck was selected as the team's most valuable player.^[2] Two Illinois players received honors on the 1955 All-Big Ten Conference football team: halfback Bobby Mitchell (AP-1) and halfback Harry Jefferson (AP-2, UP-3, INS-1).^[3][4][5]

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 24	at California*		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 20–13	32,000
October 1	Iowa State*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 40–0	45,706
October 8	at Ohio State		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck)	L 12–27	82,407
October 15	Minnesota		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 21–13	45,995
October 22	at No. 6 Michigan State		Macklin Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 7–21	51,851	[6]
October 29	Purdue		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 0–13	61,262
November 5	No. 3 Michigan		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 25–6	58,968	[7]
November 12	at Wisconsin	No. 16	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 17–14	53,529
November 19	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	T 7–7	35,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

Team photo of the 1955 Illinois Fighting Illini football team.