1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	3–7 (2–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ray Eliot (2nd season)
MVP	Eddie Bray
Captain	Game captains
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1943 Big Ten Conference football standings

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

The 1943 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1943 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second season under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 3–7 record and finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Conference.[1] Halfback Eddie Bray was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

In the final Litkenhous Ratings, Illinois ranked 35th among the nation's college and service teams with a rating of 89.6.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	Camp Grant*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 0–23	3,500
September 18	Iowa Pre-Flight*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 18–32	8,500	[4]
October 2	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 21–40	15,000
October 9	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 25–7	17,000
October 16	Pittsburgh*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 33–25	7,144
October 23	at No. 1 Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN	L 0–47	24,676
October 30	No. 7 Michigan	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 6–42	15,724
November 6	at Iowa	StadiumIowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 19–10	11,000
November 13	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	L 26–29	36,331
November 20	at No. 9 Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 6–53	25,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

1. "1943 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
2. "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
3. Litkenhous, E. E. (December 17, 1943). "Litkenhouse Selects U. S. Grid Leaders". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah. p. 18. Retrieved April 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
4. Sec Taylor (September 19, 1943). "Seahawks Win, 32-18". The Des Moines Register. pp. 15–16 – via Newspapers.com.