1962 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1962 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 1962 Big Ten season. In their third year under head coach Pete Elliott, the Fighting Illini compiled a 2–7 record (2–5 in conference games), finished in eighth place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by a total of 234 to 75.^[1]

1962 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
Record	2–7 (2–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pete Elliott (3rd season)
MVP	Ken Zimmerman
Captains	Bob Scharbert Ken Zimmerman
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1961 1963 →

1962 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Wisconsin $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Minnesota	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	2	–	1
Northwestern	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Ohio State	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Purdue	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Illinois	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Indiana	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Michigan	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Mike Taliaferro (1,139 passing yards, 37.7% completion percentage), halfback Ken Zimmerman (225 rushing yards, 4.1 yards per carry), and wide receiver Thurman Walker (240 receiving yars).^[2] Zimmerman was selected as the team's most valuable player.^[3] Center Dick Butkus was selected by the UPI as a second-team player on the 1962 All-Big Ten Conference football team.^[4]

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 29	at Washington*	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 7–28	53,471
October 6	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 0–45	41,854
October 13	No. 10 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck)	L 15–51	56,017
October 20	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 0–17	59,427
October 27	No. 4 USC*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 16–28	31,375
November 3	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 14–10	45,496
November 10	at Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 10–14	49,756	[5]
November 17	No. 4 Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 6–35	36,762
November 24	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 7–6	19,547
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game