1974 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1974 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–4–1 (4–3–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bob Blackman (4th season)
MVP	Tom Hicks, Jeff Hollenbach
Captain	Ty McMillin, Revie Sorey
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1974 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Wisconsin	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Indiana	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1974 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois in the 1974 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth year under head coach Bob Blackman, the Illini compiled a 6–4–1 record and finished in fifth place in the Big Ten Conference.

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Jeff Hollenbach with 1,037 passing yards, running back Chubby Phillips with 772 rushing yards, and wide receiver Joe Smalzer with 525 receiving yards. Hollenbach and linebacker Tom Hicks were selected as the team's most valuable players.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 14	Indiana		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 16–0	40,911
September 21	at No. 19 Stanford*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 41–7	47,500
September 28	Washington State*	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 21–19	40,594
October 5	California*	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 14–31	54,378
October 12	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 27–23	63,174
October 19	Michigan State		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	T 21–21	55,677
October 26	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 12–14	49,400
November 2	at No. 1 Ohio State		Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	L 7–49	87,813
November 9	No. 4 Michigan		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 6–14	60,670
November 16	at Minnesota		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 17–14	31,423
November 23	Northwestern		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 28–14	33,753
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game