2020 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 2020 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Fighting Illini played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by fifth-year head coach Lovie Smith.

2020 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
	West Division
2020 record	2–6 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lovie Smith (first seven games, 5th season) Rod Smith (interim)
Offensive coordinator	Rod Smith (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Lovie Smith (first seven games)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 60,670)
Uniform

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 2 Ohio State xy$^		5	–	0					7	–	1
No. 12 Indiana		6	–	1					6	–	2
Penn State		4	–	5					4	–	5
Maryland		2	–	3					2	–	3
Rutgers		3	–	6					3	–	6
Michigan		2	–	4					2	–	4
Michigan State		2	–	5					2	–	5
West Division
No. 10 Northwestern xy		6	–	1					7	–	2
No. 16 Iowa		6	–	2					6	–	2
Wisconsin		3	–	3					4	–	3
Minnesota		3	–	4					3	–	4
Nebraska		3	–	5					3	–	5
Purdue		2	–	4					2	–	4
Illinois		2	–	6					2	–	6
Championship: Ohio State 22, Northwestern 10
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the season on August 11, but later decided to begin play on October 24. In addition to the title game that was played on December 19, the conference seeded all remaining teams for "championship week" games.[1] Rankings from AP Poll.

On July 9, 2020, the Big Ten announced that member teams will only play conference games in effort to reduce issues related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[2] On August 11, the Big Ten canceled the college football season for the fall of 2020 due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4][5] On September 16, the Big Ten reinstated the season, announcing an eight-game season beginning on October 24.[6]

Prior to the team's final game, Smith was relieved of his coaching duties.[7] The team finished the season with a record of 2–6.

Schedule

Illinois had games scheduled against Illinois State, UConn, and Bowling Green, but canceled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 23	7:00 p.m.	at No. 14 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	BTN	L 7–45	0
October 31	11:00 a.m.	Purdue	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	BTN	L 24–31	838
November 7	2:30 p.m.	Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 14–41	863
November 14	Noon	at Rutgers	SHI Stadium Piscataway, NJ	BTN	W 23–20	0
November 21	11:00 a.m.	at Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	FS1	W 41–23	0
November 28	11:00 a.m.	No. 4 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	FS1	No Contest[9]	–
December 5	2:30 p.m.	No. 19 Iowa	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	FS1	L 21–35	875
December 12	11:00 a.m.	at No. 14 Northwestern	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 10–28
December 19	4:30 p.m.	at Penn State	Beaver Stadium State College, PA (Champions Week)	FS1	L 21–56
Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Central time

[10]

References

1. Stevens, Matthew. "Big Ten To Play A "Championship Weekend" 9th Game Of 2020 Season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
2. "Big Ten to play conference-only football schedule for 2020 season amid COVID-19 pandemic". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
3. "Big Ten cancels college football season for fall 2020, hopes to play in spring 2021". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
4. West, Jenna. "Big Ten Postpones Fall Sports, Including Football". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
5. "Big Ten nixes fall football season, eyes spring". ESPN.com. 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
6. "The Big Ten Conference Adopts Stringent Medical Protocols; Football Season to Resume October 23-24, 2020". bigten.org. September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
7. "Illini Head Coach Lovie Smith Out After Five Seasons". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
8. Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
9. "No. 3 Ohio State cancels Saturday's game at Illinois because of COVID-19 cases, putting the Buckeyes 1 cancellation away from being ineligible for the Big Ten title". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
10. "2020 Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved September 23, 2020.