2021 Illinois Fighting Illini Football Schedule, Results & ATS Record
Experimental: college football pages are new and still being expanded.
The 2021 Illinois Fighting Illini went 5-7 (4-5 in the Big Ten). They scored 20.2 and allowed 21.9 points per game. Against the closing spread they went 7-5-0; games went 3-9-0 on the total. SP+ rated them No. 64 nationally.
Team details
- Conference: Big Ten
- Record: 5-7
- Conference record: 4-5
- Against the spread: 7-5-0
- Over/under: 3-9-0
- SP+ rank: No. 64
2021 schedule and results
| Wk | Opponent | Date | Result | Score | Spread | ATS | O/U |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska | 2021-08-28 | W | 30-22 | +6.5 | W | U 52.5 |
| 1 | UTSA | 2021-09-04 | L | 30-37 | -4.5 | L | O 52 |
| 2 | at Virginia | 2021-09-11 | L | 14-42 | +10.5 | L | U 57 |
| 3 | Maryland | 2021-09-18 | L | 17-20 | +7 | W | U 61 |
| 4 | at Purdue | 2021-09-25 | L | 9-13 | +10.5 | W | U 53 |
| 5 | Charlotte | 2021-10-02 | W | 24-14 | -10 | P | U 54 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 2021-10-09 | L | 0-24 | +12 | L | U 42 |
| 8 | at Penn State | 2021-10-23 | W | 20-18 | +24.5 | W | U 45.5 |
| 9 | Rutgers | 2021-10-30 | L | 14-20 | +1.5 | L | U 41.5 |
| 10 | at Minnesota | 2021-11-06 | W | 14-6 | +14.5 | W | U 44 |
| 12 | at Iowa | 2021-11-20 | L | 23-33 | +12 | W | O 38 |
| 13 | Northwestern | 2021-11-27 | W | 47-14 | -7 | W | O 44.5 |
Passing leaders
| Player | G | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Peters | 9 | 91 | 169 | 1170 | 7 | 4 |
| Artur Sitkowski | 5 | 74 | 148 | 704 | 6 | 2 |
| Caleb Griffin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rushing leaders
| Player | G | Att | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Brown | 10 | 170 | 1005 | 5 |
| Joshua McCray | 11 | 112 | 549 | 2 |
| Reggie Love III | 6 | 44 | 158 | 0 |
| Jakari Norwood | 9 | 27 | 120 | 0 |
| Mike Epstein | 2 | 25 | 107 | 1 |
Receiving leaders
| Player | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah Williams | 12 | 47 | 525 | 4 |
| Casey Washington | 12 | 21 | 294 | 0 |
| Daniel Barker | 8 | 18 | 202 | 4 |
| Donny Navarro | 10 | 17 | 167 | 0 |
| Deuce Spann | 5 | 5 | 124 | 2 |
Defensive leaders
| Player | G | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarique Barnes | 12 | 80 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Sydney Brown | 11 | 69 | 1.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| Tony Adams | 12 | 63 | 3.5 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Kerby Joseph | 12 | 57 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Jartavius Martin | 12 | 54 | 3.5 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
2021 Illinois players who reached the NFL
| Player | Pos | NFL team | Drafted | College seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Washington | WR | CAR | 2024 R6 #187 | 2019–2023 |
| Chase Brown | RB | CIN | 2023 R5 #163 | 2019–2022 |
| Devon Witherspoon | CB | SEA | 2023 R1 #5 | 2019–2022 |
| Isaiah Williams | WR | NYJ | 2024 UDFA | 2019–2023 |
| Jake Hansen | LB | HOU | 2022 UDFA | 2016–2021 |
| Jer'Zhan Newton | DT | WAS | 2024 R2 #36 | 2020–2023 |
| Kerby Joseph | SAF | DET | 2022 R3 #97 | 2018–2021 |
| Pat Bryant | WR | DEN | 2025 R3 #74 | 2021–2024 |
| Quan Martin | SAF | WAS | 2023 R2 #47 | 2018–2022 |
| Sydney Brown | SAF | ATL | 2023 R3 #66 | 2018–2022 |
| Tip Reiman | TE | ARI | 2024 R3 #82 | 2020–2023 |
| Tony Adams | SAF | TEN | 2022 UDFA | 2017–2021 |
| Dalevon Campbell | WR | LAC | 2025 UDFA | 2019–2021 |
| Seth Coleman | DE | IND | 2025 UDFA | 2020–2024 |
| James McCourt | K | LV | 2022 UDFA | 2019–2021 |
Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com