2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football
2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
	West Division
Record	3–9 (2–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lovie Smith (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Garrick McGee (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Hardy Nickerson (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 7 Penn State xy$	8	–	1	11	–	3
No. 6 Ohio State x^	8	–	1	11	–	2
No. 10 Michigan	7	–	2	10	–	3
Indiana	4	–	5	6	–	7
Maryland	3	–	6	6	–	7
Michigan State	1	–	8	3	–	9
Rutgers	0	–	9	2	–	10
West Division
No. 9 Wisconsin xy	7	–	2	11	–	3
Iowa	6	–	3	8	–	5
Nebraska	6	–	3	9	–	4
Minnesota	5	–	4	9	–	4
Northwestern	5	–	4	7	–	6
Illinois	2	–	7	3	–	9
Purdue	1	–	8	3	–	9
Championship: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. In their first season under head coach Lovie Smith, the Fighting Illini compiled a 3–9 record (2–7 in conference games), finished in sixth place out of seven teams in the Big Ten's West Division, and were outscored by a total of 383 to 236.^[1]

The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Wes Lunt (1,376 passing yards), running back Kendrick Foster (720 rushing yards), wide receiver Malik Turner (48 receptions for 712 yards), and kicker Chase McLaughlin (62 points scored, 26 of 26 extra points, 12 of 17 field goals).^[2]

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

Schedule

The Illini hosted all three non–conference games which were against the Murray State Racers from the Ohio Valley Conference, North Carolina Tar Heels from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and the Western Michigan Broncos from the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	2:30 pm	Murray State*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 52–3	48,644
September 10	6:30 pm	North Carolina*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 23–48	60,670
September 17	3:00 pm	Western Michigan*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPNews	L 10–34	40,954
October 1	2:30 pm	at No. 15 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPN2	L 16–31	90,374
October 8	2:30 pm	Purdue	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	BTN	L 31–34 ^OT	42,912
October 15	11:00 am	at Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium Piscataway, NJ	ESPNews	W 24–7	42,640
October 22	2:30 pm	at No. 3 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	BTN	L 8–41	111,103
October 29	11:00 am	Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 17–40	40,090
November 5	11:00 am	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPNews	W 31–27	47,144
November 12	2:30 pm	at No. 7 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	L 3–48	79,340
November 19	11:00 am	Iowa	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 0–28	39,031
November 26	11:00 am	at Northwestern	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (rivalry)	BTN	L 21–42	30,022
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule source:^[3]

Game summaries

Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	0	3	0	0	3
Fighting Illini	14	21	7	10	52

North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	17	7	7	17	48
Fighting Illini	14	2	0	7	23

Western Michigan

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

At Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	13	3	0	16
#15 Cornhuskers	7	3	0	21	31

Purdue

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Boilermakers	7	14	3	7	3	34
Fighting Illini	3	13	7	8	0	31

At Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	7	10	7	24
Scarlet Knights	0	0	0	7	7

At Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	0	0	8	8
#3 Wolverines	21	10	3	7	41

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	14	0	7	19	40
Fighting Illini	7	0	7	3	17

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	3	3	11	10	27
Fighting Illini	0	7	10	14	31

At #7 Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	3	0	0	0	3
#7 Badgers	21	10	3	14	48

Iowa

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

At Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	14	7	0	21
Wildcats	14	7	14	7	42

Roster

2016 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`2`	Reggie Corbin	Fr
QB	`3`	Jeff George, Jr.	Fr
WR	`4`	D. J. Taylor	Sr
RB	`5`	Ke'Shawn Vaughn	So
RB	`6`	Tre Nation	Fr
QB	`7`	Chayce Crouch	So
WR	`9`	Sam Mays	So
WR	`11`	Malik Turner	Jr
QB	`12`	Wes Lunt	Sr
TE	`13`	Caleb Reams	Fr
QB	`14`	Cam Miller	Fr
WR	`15`	M. J. McGriff	Fr
WR	`16`	Zarrian Holcombe	Fr
WR	`18`	Mike Dudek	So
WR	`19`	Justin Hardee	Sr
WR	`21`	Man Berg	Sr
RB	`22`	Kendrick Foster	Jr
WR	`25`	Trenard Davis	Fr
RB	`27`	Dre Brown	Fr
RB	`29`	Christian Bobak	Fr
DB	`36`	Austin Roberts	So
RB	`39`	Nathan Echard	Jr
OL	`52`	Adam Solomon	Fr
OL	`53`	Nick Allegretti	So
OL	`57`	Austin Schmidt	Sr
OL	`61`	Darta Lee	Fr
OL	`65`	Doug Kramer	Fr
OL	`66`	Jordan Fagan	Jr
OL	`67`	Christian DiLauro	Jr
OL	`68`	Matt Long	Fr
OL	`70`	Eddy Fish	Fr
OL	`71`	Joe Spencer	Sr
OL	`72`	Gabe Megginson	Fr
OL	`73`	Jake Cerny	Fr
OL	`74`	Connor Brennan	Fr
OL	`75`	Kurt Gavin	Fr
OL	`78`	Harry Black	Sr
OL	`79`	Zach Heath	Jr
TE	`80`	Ainslie Johnson	Sr
TE	`81`	Griffin Palmer	Fr
WR	`82`	Samuel Harlib	Jr
TE	`83`	Bobby Walker	Fr
WR	`84`	Dominic Thieman	Fr
TE	`85`	Andrew Trainer	Fr
WR	`86`	Desmond Cain	So
TE	`87`	Tyler White	Sr
WR	`88`	Zach Grant	Sr
TE	`89`	Andrew Davis	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`1`	Jaylen Dunlap	Jr
LB	`2`	Julian Jones	So
DB	`3`	Taylor Barton	Sr
DB	`4`	Darwyn Kelly	Jr
LB	`5`	James Crawford	Jr
DL	`6`	Carroll Phillips	Sr
DB	`7`	Caleb Day	Sr
DB	`8`	Dillan Cazley	Sr
LB	`9`	Dele Harding	Fr
LB	`10`	Hardy Nickerson Jr.	Sr
DL	`11`	Chunky Clements	Sr
DB	`12`	Chris James	So
DL	`14`	Gimel President	Sr
DL	`16`	Rob Bain	Sr
DB	`17`	Stanley Green	Fr
DB	`20`	Harvey Clayton, Jr.	Fr
DB	`21`	Patrick Nelson	Fr
DB	`23`	Frank Sumpter	Fr
DB	`24`	Darius Mosely	Sr
DB	`26`	Evan Jones	Fr
DB	`27`	Ahmari Hayes	Jr
DB	`30`	Julian Hylton	So
DB	`31`	Cameron Watkins	Fr
LB	`32`	Justice Williams	Fr
LB	`33`	Tré Watson	Fr
LB	`34`	Christion Abercrombie	Fr
LB	`35`	Jake Hansen	Fr
DB	`37`	Zach Holman	So
LB	`40`	Mike Svetina	Sr
LB	`41`	Jimmy Marchese	Fr
DL	`42`	Brandon Jones	Fr
LB	`44`	Drew Murtaugh	Fr
DL	`45`	Henry McGrew	So
DL	`47`	Sean Adesanya	So
LB	`52`	Ayo Shogbonyo	Fr
DL	`55`	Jamal Milan	Fr
DL	`76`	Zeke Martin	Fr
DL	`85`	Brandon Roberts	Jr
DL	`91`	Dawuane Smoot	Sr
DL	`94`	Tito Odenigbo	So
DL	`95`	Kenyon Jackson	Fr
DL	`96`	Tymir Oliver	Fr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`13`	Ryan Frain	Sr
K	`17`	James McCourt	Fr
K, P	`38`	David Reisner	Sr
P	`40`	Ryan Tucker	So
K	`43`	Chase McLaughlin	Fr
LS	`56`	Michael Martin	Sr
LS	`58`	Sean Mills	Fr

Head coach

Lovie Smith

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Garrick McGee – Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
Hardy Nickerson – Defensive Coordinator
Mike Phair – Defensive Line
Bob Ligashesky – Special Teams Coordinator / Tight Ends
Luke Butkus – Offensive Line
Andrew Hayes-Stoker – Wide Receivers
Tim McGarigle – Linebackers
Thad Ward – Running Backs
Paul Williams – Defensive Backs
Joe Fotu - Graduate Assistant - Defense
Tyler Johns - Graduate Assistant - Offense
Brett Nelson - Graduate Assistant - Offense
Robert Wright - Graduate Assistant - Defense
Dean Hogan - Special Teams Analyst
Kingsley Osei-Asibey - Defensive Analyst
Nathan Scheelhaase - Offensive Analyst
Tim Knox - Director of Football Operations
Josh Sternquist - Director of Player Personnel
Patrick Embleton - Director of Football Student-Athlete Development
Nathan McNeal - Director of High School Relations
Travis Perry - Graphics/Social Media
Nina Baloun - Recruiting Assistant
James Kirkland - Recruiting Analyst
Joey Boese - Head Football Strength & Conditioning Coach
Jeremy Busch - Head Football Athletic Trainer
Trent Chestnut - Head Football Equipment Manager
Alex Benizzi - Director of Football Video

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 13, 2016

Awards and honors

Weekly

Weekly Awards
Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Patrick Nelson	Big Ten Freshman of the Week	October 17, 2016	^[4]
Tré Watson	Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week	November 7, 2016	^[5]

All-Conference

All-Big Ten^[6]^[7]
Player	Selection
Dawuane Smoot	Third Team (Coaches & Media)
Hardy Nickerson Jr.	Honorable Mention (Coaches & Media)
Carroll Phillips	First Team (Media) Honorable Mention (Coaches)
Joe Spencer	Honorable Mention (Media)
Tré Watson	Honorable Mention (Media)

References

^ "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
^ "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
^ "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
^ "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 17, 2016. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
^ "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 7, 2016. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
^ "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. November 29, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
^ "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

[1] "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.

[2] "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2025.

[3] "2016 Illinois Fighting Illini Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved December 6, 2015.

[4] "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 17, 2016. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.

[5] "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 7, 2016. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.

[6] "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. November 29, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.

[7] "2016 Big Ten Individual Award Winners" (PDF). www.grfx.cstv.com. Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

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v t e Illinois Fighting Illini football
Venues	Illinois Field (1890–1922) Gies Memorial Stadium (1923–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana Iowa Michigan Missouri Northwestern Ohio State: Illibuck Purdue
Culture & lore	Illinois Loyalty "Oskee Wow-Wow" Marching Illini Gene Honda Fighting Illini Sports Network Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal 2021 Penn State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
National championship seasons in bold