2022 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

2022 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ReliaQuest Bowl, L 10–19 vs. Mississippi State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	8–5 (5–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bret Bielema (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Barry Lunney Jr. (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Ryan Walters (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

2022 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 3 Michigan xy$^		9	–	0					13	–	1
No. 4 Ohio State ^		8	–	1					11	–	2
No. 7 Penn State		7	–	2					11	–	2
Maryland		4	–	5					8	–	5
Michigan State		3	–	6					5	–	7
Indiana		2	–	7					4	–	8
Rutgers		1	–	8					4	–	8
West Division
Purdue xy		6	–	3					8	–	6
Illinois		5	–	4					8	–	5
Iowa		5	–	4					8	–	5
Minnesota		5	–	4					9	–	4
Wisconsin		4	–	5					7	–	6
Nebraska		3	–	6					4	–	8
Northwestern		1	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: Michigan 43, Purdue 22
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2022 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represents the University of Illinois in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Bret Bielema was in his second season as the team's head coach. The Fighting Illini played home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

Key players included senior quarterback Tommy DeVito and junior running back Chase Brown.

In Week 6, the Fighting Illini became ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 2011. The Illini clinched a winning season for the first time since that same season.

Schedule

Illinois announced its 2022 football schedule on January 12, 2022. The 2022 schedule consists of seven home games and five away games in the regular season. The Fighting Illini will host Big Ten foes Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Purdue and will travel to Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan and Northwestern. The Fighting Illini will host all three of their non-conference opponents, Wyoming from the Mountain West, Virginia from ACC, and Chattanooga from Division I FCS.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 27	3:00 p.m.	Wyoming*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 38–6	37,832
September 2	7:00 p.m.	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (rivalry)	FS1	L 20–23	44,357
September 10	3:00 p.m.	Virginia*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPNU	W 24–3	33,669
September 22	7:30 p.m.	No. 10 (FCS) Chattanooga*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 31–0	37,579
October 1	11:00 a.m.	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	BTN	W 34–10	73,502
October 8	6:30 p.m.	Iowa		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 9–6	44,910
October 15	11:00 a.m.	Minnesota	No. 24	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	W 26–14	45,683
October 29	2:30 p.m.	at Nebraska	No. 17	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ABC	W 26–9	86,691
November 5	3:30 p.m.	Michigan State	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	BTN	L 15–23	56,092
November 12	11:00 a.m.	Purdue	No. 21	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 24–31	45,574
November 19	11:00 a.m.	at No. 3 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (series)	ABC	L 17–19	110,433
November 26	2:30 p.m.	at Northwestern		Ryan Field Evanston, IL (rivalry)	BTN	W 41–3	25,744
January 2, 2023	11:00 a.m.	vs. No. 22 Mississippi State*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (ReliaQuest Bowl)	ESPN2	L 10–19	35,797
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	3	0	3	0	6
Fighting Illini	7	10	7	14	38

See also: 2022 Wyoming Cowboys football team

At Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	7	3	7	3	20
Hoosiers	3	13	0	7	23

See also: 2022 Indiana Hoosiers football team

Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cavaliers	3	0	0	0	3
Fighting Illini	14	7	3	0	24

See also: 2022 Virginia Cavaliers football team

No. 10 (FCS) Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 (FCS) Mocs	0	0	0	0	0
Fighting Illini	10	14	7	0	31

See also: 2022 Chattanooga Mocs football team

At Wisconsin

See also: 2022 Wisconsin Badgers football team

Illinois vs. Wisconsin – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	7	7	17	3	34
Badgers	7	3	0	0	10

at Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin

• Date: October 1, 2022
• Game time: 11:00 a.m.
• Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C) • Wind: NE at 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) • Weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 73,502
• Referee: Jerry Servinski
• TV announcers (BTN): Lisa Byington (play-by-play), Anthony Herron (analyst), Krystle Rich (sideline)
• [1]

Game information

First quarter WIS – Isaac Guerendo 21-yard pass from Graham Mertz (Nate Van Zelst Kick), 11:15 Wisconsin 7–0, Drive: 7 plays, 53 yards, 3:39 ILL – Tommy DeVito 1-yard run (Caleb Griffin Kick), 4:30 Tie 7–7, Drive: 7 plays, 16 yards, 3:39 Second quarter WIS – Nate Van Zelst 39-yard field goal, 14:53. Wisconsin 10–7. Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 4:32. ILL – Tommy DeVito 1-yard run (Caleb Griffin Kick), 7:31 Illinois 14–10, Drive: 6 plays, 47 yards, 2:48 Third quarter ILL – Tommy DeVito 1-yard run (Caleb Griffin Kick), 10:24 Illinois 21–10, Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 4:36 ILL – Caleb Griffin 44-yard field goal, 9:03. Illinois 24–10. Drive: 4 plays, -10 yards, 1:18. ILL – Chase Brown 49-yard run (Caleb Griffin Kick), 6:42 Illinois 31–10, Drive: 4 plays, 70 yards, 1:14 Fourth quarter ILL – Caleb Griffin 31-yard field goal, 14:18. Illinois 34–10. Drive: 9 plays, 40 yards, 5:18. Top passers ILL – Tommy DeVito – 18/24, 167 yards WIS – Graham Mertz – 17/32, 206 yards TD, 2 INT Top rushers ILL – Chase Brown – 25 carries, 129 yards, TD WIS – Chez Mellusi – 7 carries, 16 yards Top receivers ILL – Brian Hightower – 5 receptions, 59 yards WIS – Chimere Dike – 5 receptions, 76 yards Top defenders ILL – Quan Martin – 7 tackles, TFL, sack, pass breakup WIS – Keeanu Benton – 3 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks

Iowa

See also: 2022 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

Iowa at Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total Hawkeyes 3 3 0 0 6 • Fighting Illini 3 3 0 3 9 Date: October 8 Location: Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL Game start: 6:40 pm CDT Game attendance: 44,910 Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C), Sunny, Wind SW 8 mph (13 km/h) Referee: Greg Blum TV announcers (BTN): Cory Provus (play-by-play), Jake Butt (analyst), and Elise Menaker (sideline) Source: Box Score

Scoring summary 1 9:03 Illinois F. Pinton 27-yard field goal Illinois 3–0 3:51 Iowa Drew Stevens 32-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 8:00 Illinois F. Pinton 37-yard field goal Illinois 6–3 2:48 Iowa Drew Stevens 27-yard field goal Tied 6–6 4 2:49 Illinois F. Pinton 36-yard field goal Illinois 9–6

Illinois won for the first time in nine tries in the series since the two teams became part of the Big Ten West. It was also former Iowa player and coach Bret Bielema's first game at Illinois against Iowa, as he missed the 2021 meeting due to issues relating to COVID-19.

Statistics	IOWA	ILL
First downs	13	18
Total yards	221	316
Rushing yards	52	200
Passing yards	169	116
Turnovers	1	3
Time of possession	28:55	31:05

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa	Passing	Spencer Petras	18/36, 169 yards, INT
	Rushing	Leshon Williams	7 carries, 32 yards
	Receiving	Sam LaPorta	9 receptions, 100 yards
Illinois	Passing	Artur Sitkowski	13/19, 74 yards, INT
	Rushing	Chase Brown	31 carries, 146 yards
	Receiving	Brian Hightower	5 receptions, 68 yards

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Gophers	0	7	7	0	14
No. 24 Fighting Illini	7	6	7	6	26

See also: 2022 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

At Nebraska

See also: 2022 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

No. 17 Illinois Fighting Illini (6–1) vs Nebraska Cornhuskers (3–4) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Fighting Illini	6	14	3	3	26
Cornhuskers	3	6	0	0	9

at Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE

• Date: October 29, 2022
• Game time: 2:30 p.m.
• Game weather: Sunny, 70 °F (21 °C)
• Game attendance: 86,691
• Referee: Greg Blum
• TV announcers (ABC): Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), Tom Luginbill (sideline)
• Sources:

Game information

First quarter (12:33) ILL – Isaiah Williams 46-yard pass from Tommy DeVito (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:27; Illinois 6–0) (1:49) NEB – Timmy Bleekrode 26-yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 3:15; Illinois 6–3) Second quarter (9:38) NEB – Travis Vokolek 56-yard pass from Casey Thompson (Drive: 5 plays, 93 yards, 2:24; Nebraska 9–6) (6:03) ILL – Chase Brown 1-yard run, Caleb Griffin kick (Drive: 2 plays, 11 yards, 0:28; Illinois 13–9) (0:23) ILL – Chase Brown 12-yard pass from Tommy DeVito, Caleb Griffin kick (Drive: 11 plays, 72 yards, 4:08; Illinois 20–9) Third quarter (3:29) ILL – Caleb Griffin 36-yard field goal (Drive: 13 plays, 70 yards, 7:27; Illinois 23–9) Fourth quarter (11:12) ILL – Caleb Griffin 41-yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, 2 yards, 2:00; Illinois 26–9)

Statistics	ILL	NEB
First downs	18	9
Total yards	367	248
Rushes/yards	48–188	25–60
Passing yards	179	188
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	20–22–0	11–24–3
Time of possession	38:13	21:47

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois	Passing	Tommy DeVito	20/22, 179 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Chase Brown	32 carries, 149 yards, TD
	Receiving	Isaiah Williams	9 receptions, 93 yards, TD
Nebraska	Passing	Casey Thompson	7/15, 172 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Anthony Grant	12 carries, 61 yards
	Receiving	Travis Vokolek	1 reception, 56 yards, TD

Michigan State

See also: 2022 Michigan State Spartans football team

Week Nine: Michigan State at No. 16 Illinois– Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan State	3	6	14	0	23
No. 16 Illinois	7	0	0	8	15

at Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL

• Date: November 5, 2022
• Game time: 3:40 p.m.
• Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C), Cloudy, Wind: SW 30 mph (48 km/h)
• Game attendance: 56,092
• Referee: Larry Smith
• TV announcers (BTN): Cory Provus (play-by-play), Matt Millen (analyst)
• Sources:

Game information

First Quarter (08:03) ILL TD: Isaiah Williams 60-yard pass from Tommy DeVito (Caleb Griffin kick) ILL 7–0; 2 plays, 59 yards, 0:42 (01:36) MSU FG: Ben Patton 21-yard field goal ILL 7–3; 15 plays, 72 yards, 6:27 Second Quarter (10:21) MSU TD: Tre Mosley 1-yard pass from Payton Thorned (kick failed) MSU 9–7; 7 plays 61 yards, 3:48 Third Quarter (05:45) MSU TD: Jarek Broussard 11-yard run (Ben Patton kick) MSU 16–7; 6 plays, 29 yards, 3:48 (05:27) MSU TD: Jayden Reed 16-yard pass from Payton Thorne (Ben Patton kick) MSU 23–7; 3 plays 41 yards, 1:22 Fourth Quarter (14:27) ILL TD: Isaiah Williams 7-yard pass from Tommy DeVito (Tip Redmon pass from Tommy DeVito) MSU 23–15; 8 plays, 56 yards, 3:25 Passing MSU – Payton Thorne: 19/29, 182 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT ILL – Tommy DeVito: 25/37, 288 yards, 2 TD Rushing MSU – Jalen Berger: 15 carries, 84 yards ILL – Chase Brown: 33 carries, 140 yards Receiving MSU – Jayden Reed: 5 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD ILL – Isaiah Williams: 5 receptions, 98 yards, 2 TD

Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	0	14	7	10	31
No. 21 Fighting Illini	7	7	7	3	24

See also: 2022 Purdue Boilermakers football team and Purdue Cannon

At No. 3 Michigan

See also: 2022 Michigan Wolverines football team and Illinois-Michigan football series

Illinois at No. 3 Michigan
(rivalry)

1 2 3 4 Total Fighting Illini 0 3 14 0 17 • No. 3 Wolverines 7 0 3 9 19 Date: November 19 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game start: 12:07 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3:29 Game attendance: 110,433 Game weather: 25 °F (−4 °C), sunny, SW 15 MPH Referee: Michael Cannon TV announcers (ABC): Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Molly McGrath, and Todd McShay Sources:

Scoring summary 1 11:28 MICH Blake Corum 2-yard run (Jake Moody kick) MICH 7–0 2 4:03 ILL Caleb Griffin 29-yard field goal MICH 7–3 3 11:10 MICH Jake Moody 46-yard field goal MICH 10–3 3 7:43 ILL Chase Brown 8-yard run (Caleb Griffin kick) Tied 10–10 3 1:36 ILL Chase Brown 37-yard run (Caleb Griffin kick) ILL 17–10 4 12:31 MICH Jake Moody 41-yard field goal ILL 17–13 4 3:14 MICH Jake Moody 33-yard field goal ILL 17–16 4 0:09 MICH Jake Moody 35-yard field goal MICH 19–17

Statistics	UI	No. 3 UM
First downs	20	18
Plays–yards	64–326	74–376
Rushes–yards	34–148	40–168
Passing yards	178	208
Passing: comp–att–int	21–30–0	18–34–0
Time of possession	24:57	35:03

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Illinois	Passing	Tommy DeVito	21/30, 178 yards
	Rushing	Chase Brown	29 carries, 140 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Casey Washington	6 receptions, 53 yards
No. 3 Michigan	Passing	J. J. McCarthy	18/34, 208 yards
	Rushing	Blake Corum	18 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Colston Loveland	3 receptions, 50 yards

At Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	7	10	17	7	41
Wildcats	0	0	0	3	3

See also: 2022 Northwestern Wildcats football team and Illinois-Northwestern football rivalry

Vs. No. 22 Mississippi State (ReliaQuest Bowl)

No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (ReliaQuest Bowl)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Mississippi State	0	3	0	16	19
Illinois	0	7	3	0	10

at Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, Florida

• Date: Monday, January 2, 2023
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 76 °F (24 °C) • Wind: 6 mph (9.7 km/h) west
• Game attendance: 35,797
• TV announcers (ESPN2): Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (analyst), and Tiffany Blackmon (sideline)
• Box score

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Mississippi State Illinois 2 2:49 10 77 4:45 Illinois Tommy DeVito 2-yard touchdown run, Caleb Griffin kick good 0 7 2 0:09 8 55 2:40 Miss. State 38-yard field goal by Massimo Biscardi 3 7 3 6:57 11 45 5:13 Illinois 52-yard field goal by Caleb Griffin 3 10 4 14:54 13 75 7:03 Miss. State Justin Robinson 8-yard touchdown reception from Will Rogers, Massimo Biscardi kick good 10 10 4 0:04 9 68 1:46 Miss. State 27-yard field goal by Massimo Biscardi 13 10 4 0:00 Miss. State Fumble recovery returned 60 yards for touchdown by Marcus Banks, kick not attempted 19 10 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 19 10

Rankings

Further information: 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	RV	24	18	17	14	21	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	20	18	13	20	RV	RV	RV	RV	—
CFP	Not released									16	21	—	—	—	—	Not released

Roster

2022 Illinois Fighting Illini football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 0 Josh McCray So WR 1 Isaiah Williams So RB 2 Chase Brown Jr QB 3 Tommy DeVito Sr WR 4 Khmari Thompson Jr WR 6 Ashton Hollins Fr WR 7 Brian Hightower Jr WR 8 Shawn Miller  Fr QB 9 Artur Sitkowski Jr QB 10 Donovan Leary  Fr QB 11 Jake Huber Fr WR 11 Jonah Morris Sr QB 12 Kirkland Michaux Fr WR 13 Pat Bryant So WR 14 Casey Washington Jr QB 15 Jameson Sheehan Fr QB 17 Ryan Johnson Sr WR 18 Chase Miller Fr WR 19 Eian Pugh Fr TE 20 Naivyan Cargill Fr RB 21 Aidan Laughery Fr RB 22 Chase Hayden Sr RB 23 Reggie Love III So RB 24 Nick Fedanzo So RB 25 Jordan Anderson Fr TE 40 Lucas Althaus Fr TE 42 Michael Marchese Sr TE 43 Griffin Moore So TE 44 Ben Clawson Fr TE 48 Mike Cernigila Jr So OL 53 Devin Hale Fr OL 54 Julian Pearl So OL 56 Magnus MØller Fr OL 57 Evan Kirts So OL 58 Matt Fries Fr OL 62 Sam Tsagalis Fr OL 63 Alex Palczewski Sr OL 64 Josh Kruetz Fr OL 65 Joey Okla Fr OL 66 Jordyn Slaughter Jr OL 68 Zachary Barlev Fr OL 70 Tommy Cronin So OL 71 Hunter Whitenack Fr OL 72 Zy Crisler So OL 73 Josh Gesky Fr OL 74 Dylan Davis So OL 75 Alex Pihlstrom Sr OL 76 Clayton Leonard Fr OL 78 Isaiah Adams Jr OL 79 Luciano Elias Fr WR 80 Hank Beatty Fr WR 81 Daniel Edwards Fr TE 82 Luke Ford Sr WR 83 Keion Battle Fr TE 84 Owen Anderson Fr WR 85 Miles Scott Sr WR 86 Weston Adams Fr WR 87 Kody Case Sr TE 88 Henry Boyer Fr TE 89 Tip Reiman So WR Tyler McClure  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 1 Kionte Curry Fr DB 2 Matthew Bailey Fr DB 3 DD Snyder II Fr DL 4 Johnny Newton So LB 5 Calvin Hart Jr Jr DB 6 Terrell Jennings Jr DB 7 Kendall Smith Sr LB 8 Tarique Barnes Jr DB 9 Tyson Rooks Fr DB 10 Tahveon Nicholson So DB 12 Elijah Mc-Cantos Fr DB 14 Xavier Scott Fr DB 15 Prince Green Fr DB 16 Peyton Vining Sr LB 17 Gabe Jacas Fr DB 20 Tyler Strain Fr DB 21 Quan Martin Sr DL 23 Terah Edwards Fr LB 25 Jared Badie Fr DB 26 Mike Manning So DB 27 Matt Bobak Fr LB 28 Dylan Rosiek Fr DB 29 TJ Griffin Fr DB 30 Sydney Brown Sr DB 31 Devon Witherspoon Jr DB 32 Tailon Leitzsey Sr LB 33 Ezekiel Holmes  Jr LB 34 Ryan Meed So DB 35 Grayson Griffin  Fr LB 36 Ben Schultz So DB 37 Solo Turner So LB 38 Isaac Darkangelo Sr LB 39 Kenenna Odeluga Fr LB 40 Shammond Cooper So LB 41 James Kruetz Fr LB 42 Luke Zardzin Fr LB 45 Malachi Hood Fr LB 48 Bryce Barnes Jr LB 49 Seth Coleman So DL 52 Verdis Brown Jr DL 55 Sed McConnell Fr DL 57 Evan Kirts So DL 88 Keith Randolph Jr. So LB 90 Alec Bryant Fr DL 91 Jamal Woods Sr DL 93 Calvin Avery Sr DL 94 Raashaan Wilkins Jr Jr LB 98 Deon Pate Sr DL 99 Christian Lorenzo Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 5 Caleb Griffin Jr K 16 Will McManus Fr K, P 98 Fabrizio Pinton Fr P 19 Hugh Robertson Fr P 96 Josh Leff Fr LS 36 Lane Hansen Fr LS 39 Aidan Hall So LS 47 Preston Engel Jr LS 95 Nico Crawford Fr	Head coach Bret Bielema Coordinators/assistant coaches Barry Lunney Jr. – Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Ryan Walters – Defensive Coordinator Ben Miller – Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends Cory Patterson – Running Backs Terrance Jamison – Defensive Line George McDonald – Wide Receivers / Assistant HC Aaron Henry – Defensive Backs Bart Miller – Offensive Line Andy Buh – Linebackers Kevin Kane – Outside linebackers / Associate HC Sean Snyder - Special Teams/Specialists Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: September 21, 2021

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Consecutive season at Illinois in current position
Bret Bielema	Head coach	2nd
Ryan Walters	Defensive coordinator	2nd
Barry Lunney Jr.	Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach	1st
George McDonald	Wide receivers Coach / assistant head coach	2nd
Kevin Kane	Outside linebackers Coach / associate head coach	2nd
Bart Miller	Offensive line coach	2nd
Andy Buh	Linebackers coach	2nd
Terrance Jamison	Defensive line coach	2nd
Aaron Henry	Defensive backs coach	2nd
Ben Miller	Tight ends coach/special teams coordinator	2nd
Cory Patterson	Running backs coach	5th