# 2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 2018 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as a member of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by third-year head coach Lovie Smith, the Fighting Illini compiled an overall record of 4–8 with a mark of 2–7 in conference play, placing last out of seven teams in the Big Ten's West Division. Illinois played home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

## Offseason
### Recruiting
#### Position key

| Back | B | Center | C | Cornerback | CB | Defensive back | DB |
| Defensive end | DE | Defensive lineman | DL | Defensive tackle | DT | End | E |
| Fullback | FB | Guard | G | Halfback | HB | Kicker | K |
| Kickoff returner | KR | Offensive tackle | OT | Offensive lineman | OL | Linebacker | LB |
| Long snapper | LS | Punter | P | Punt returner | PR | Quarterback | QB |
| Running back | RB | Safety | S | Tight end | TE | Wide receiver | WR |

#### Recruits

The Fighting Illini signed a total of 17 recruits on Early National Signing Day on December 20, 2017.

### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| John Mackey Award | Louis Dorsey | TE | SO |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Nick Allegretti | OL | SR |

## Schedule

The 2018 schedule consisted of seven home and five away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini hosted Big Ten foes Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, and traveled to Rutgers, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska and Northwestern.
The Fighting Illini hosted all three non-conference opponents, Kent State from the Mid-American Conference, Western Illinois from Missouri Valley Football Conference, and South Florida from the American Athletic Conference. The South Florida game was played at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 11:00 a.m. | Kent State* | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | W 31–24 | 31,898 |
| September 8 | 6:30 p.m. | Western Illinois* | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | W 34–14 | 39,252 |
| September 15 | 2:30 p.m. | vs. South Florida* | Soldier FieldChicago, IL | BTN | L 19–25 | 21,725 |
| September 21 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 10 Penn State | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | FS1 | L 24–63 | 34,704 |
| October 6 | 11:00 a.m. | at Rutgers | HighPoint.com StadiumPiscataway, NJ | BTN | W 38–17 | 36,702 |
| October 13 | 2:30 p.m. | Purdue | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (rivalry) | FS1 | L 7–46 | 41,966 |
| October 20 | 11:00 a.m. | at No. 23 Wisconsin | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | FS1 | L 20–49 | 79,736 |
| October 27 | 2:30 p.m. | at Maryland | Maryland StadiumCollege Park, MD | BTN | L 33–63 | 30,387 |
| November 3 | 2:30 p.m. | Minnesota | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | W 55–31 | 35,774 |
| November 10 | 11:00 a.m. | at Nebraska | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | BTN | L 35–54 | 88,316 |
| November 17 | 2:30 p.m. | Iowa | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | BTN | L 0–63 | 33,313 |
| November 24 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 20 Northwestern | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL (rivalry) | BTN | L 16–24 | 37,124 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Game summaries
### Kent State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Flashes | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| Fighting Illini | 3 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 31 |

### Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Leathernecks | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Fighting Illini | 0 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 34 |

### South Florida

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulls | 7 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 25 |
| Fighting Illini | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 19 |

### Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Nittany Lions | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 | 63 |
| Fighting Illini | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |

### At Rutgers

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Illini | 10 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 38 |
| Scarlet Knights | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 |

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Boilermakers | 14 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 46 |
| Fighting Illini | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### At Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Illini | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| No. 23 Badgers | 14 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 49 |

### At Maryland

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Illini | 3 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 33 |
| Terrapins | 14 | 14 | 21 | 14 | 63 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Gophers | 7 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
| Fighting Illini | 14 | 10 | 21 | 10 | 55 |

### At Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Illini | 14 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
| Cornhuskers | 21 | 17 | 7 | 9 | 54 |

### Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawkeyes | 7 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 63 |
| Fighting Illini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### At Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Illini | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| No. 20 Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 24 |

## Awards and honors

Individual Awards :
| Player | Award | Ref. |
| Chase McLaughlin | Bakken–Andersen Kicker of the Year | |
All-Big Ten :
| Player | Position | Coaches | Media |
| Chase McLaughlin | K | 1 | 2 |
| Nick Allegretti | OG | HM | 2 |
| Reggie Corbin | RB | 3 | 3 |
| Blake Hayes | P | HM | 3 |
| Alex Palczewski | OT | – | HM |
| Del'Shawn Phillips | LB | – | HM |
| Bobby Roundtree | DL | – | HM |
| HM = Honorable mention. Reference: ||||

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 7 | 216 | Nick Allegretti | C | Kansas City Chiefs |