# 2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 2015 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by interim head coach Bill Cubit, and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 5–7, 2–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place in the West Division.
On November 28, interim head coach Bill Cubit was signed to a two-year contract and named head coach. However, on March 5, Cubit was fired by new athletic director Josh Whitman.

## Head coach

On August 28, 2015—one week before the start of the regular season—head coach Tim Beckman was fired after an internal investigation found that he had made efforts "to deter injury reporting and influence medical decisions that pressured players to avoid or postpone medical treatment and continue playing despite injuries." He was replaced by offensive coordinator Bill Cubit on an interim basis for the season.
A few hours before the final game of the season, Cubit had the "Interim" removed from his title and was named permanent head coach. It was an appointment that would last only one game, as Cubit was removed during the following off-season by new Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman, on the day Whitman officially assumed the role, in favor of former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith.

## Schedule

Illinois announced their 2015 football schedule on June 3, 2013. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini will host Big Ten foes Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Wisconsin and will travel to Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, and Purdue.
The Fighting Illini hosted three of their four non conference games against Kent State, Middle Tennessee and Western Illinois. Illinois traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and faced the North Carolina of the Atlantic Coast Conference on September 19.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 2:00 pm | Kent State* | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | W 52–3 | 36,693 |
| September 12 | 11:00 am | Western Illinois* | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | W 44–0 | 37,733 |
| September 19 | 11:00 am | at North Carolina* | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ESPN2 | L 14–48 | 41,000 |
| September 26 | 3:00 pm | Middle Tennessee* | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | ESPNews | W 27–25 | 44,366 |
| October 3 | 3:00 pm | Nebraska | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | W 14–13 | 40,138 |
| October 10 | 11:00 am | at No. 22 Iowa | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | ESPN2 | L 20–29 | 66,693 |
| October 24 | 2:30 pm | Wisconsin | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | L 13–24 | 45,438 |
| October 31 | 11:00 am | at Penn State | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | ESPN2 | L 0–39 | 94,417 |
| November 7 | 11:00 am | at Purdue | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (Battle for the Purdue Cannon) | BTN | W 48–14 | 40,197 |
| November 14 | 11:00 am | No. 3 Ohio State | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (Battle for the Illibuck) | ABC | L 3–28 | 51,515 |
| November 21 | 11:00 am | at Minnesota | TCF Bank StadiumMinneapolis, MN | ESPNews | L 23–32 | 47,976 |
| November 28 | 2:30 pm | No. 17 Northwestern | Soldier FieldChicago, IL (Battle for the Land of Lincoln Trophy) | ESPNU | L 14–24 | 33,514 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to gameAll times are in Central time |||||||
    Schedule Source: