1983_Big_Ten_Conference_football_season

1983 Big Ten Conference football season

Sports season

The 1983 Big Ten Conference football season was the 88th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Quick Facts League, Sport ...

1983 Big Ten Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I-A
Sport	Football
Number of teams	10
Top draft pick	Carl Banks
Champion	Illinois
Runners-up	Ohio State
Season MVP	Don Thorp
Top scorer	Keith Byars
Football seasons
← 1982 1984 →

More information Conf, Overall ...

1983 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Illinois $	9	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Michigan	8	–	1	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 14 Iowa	7	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 9 Ohio State	6	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	5	–	4	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Michigan State	2	–	6	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
Indiana	2	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Minnesota	0	–	9	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Big Ten champion was Illinois. The Illini compiled a 10-2 record (9-0 against Big Ten opponents). They were led quarterback Jack Trudeau with 2,446 passing yards, running back Thomas Rooks with 842 rushing yards, and wide receiver David Williams with 870 receiving yards. The 1983 Illini are the only Big Ten team to go 9-0 in regular season conference play, until Wisconsin went 9-0 in 2017.^[1]

Season overview

Results and team statistics

More information Conf. Rank, Team ...

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	AP final	AP high	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG
1	Illinois	Mike White	#10	#4	10–2	9–0	28.9	17.8
2	Michigan	Bo Schembechler	#8	#6	9–3	8–1	29.6	13.3
3	Iowa	Hayden Fry	#14	#4	9–3	7–2	31.7	15.8
4	Ohio State	Earle Bruce	#9	#3	9–3	6–3	34.2	17.2
5	Wisconsin	Dave McClain	NR	NR	7–4	5–4	32.6	22.0
6	Purdue	Leon Burtnett	NR	NR	3–7–1	3–5–1	22.8	33.3
7	Michigan State	George Perles	NR	NR	4–6–1	2–6–1	14.7	21.2
8 (tie)	Indiana	Sam Wyche	NR	NR	3–8	2–7	18.3	32.7
8 (tie)	Northwestern	Dennis Green	NR	NR	2–9	2–7	9.2	36.2
10	Minnesota	Joe Salem	NR	NR	1–10	0–9	16.5	47.1

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1983 season^[2]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1983 season^[2]
PPG = Average of points scored per game^[2]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[2]

Pre-season

Regular season

Bowl games

Four Big Ten teams played in bowl games as follows:

Ohio State defeated Pittsburgh, 28-23, in the 1984 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona
Illinois lost to UCLA, 45-9, in the 1984 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California
Michigan lost to Auburn, 9-7, in the 1984 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans
Iowa lost to Florida, 14-6, in the 1983 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.

Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders include the following:^[2]

Passing yards

1. Jack Trudeau, Illinois (2,446)
2. Chuck Long, Iowa (2,434)
3. Randy Wright, Wisconsin (2,329)
4. Steve Bradley, Indiana (2,298)
5. Scott Campbell, Purdue (2,031)^[2]

Rushing yards

1. Keith Byars, Ohio State (1,199)
2. Rick Rogers, Michigan (1,002)
3. Mel Gray, Purdue (849)
4. Thomas Rooks, Illinois (842)
5. Gary Ellerson, Wisconsin (777)^[2]

Receiving yards

1. Dave Moritz, Iowa (912)
2. Al Toon, Wisconsin (881)
3. David Williams, Illinois (870)
4. Duane Gunn, Indiana (815)
5. Len Kenebrew, Indiana (687)^[2]

Total offense

1. Randy Wright, Wisconsin (2,418)
2. Steve Bradley, Indiana (2,406)
3. Chuck Long, Iowa (2,404)
4. Jack Trudeau, Illinois (2,353)
5. Mike Tomczak, Ohio State (2,192)^[2]

Passing efficiency rating

1. Chuck Long, Iowa (160.4)
2. Jack Trudeau, Illinois (136.4)
3. Mike Tomczak, Ohio State (131.2)
4. Steve Smith, Michigan (123.0)
5. Randy Wright, Wisconsin (122.4)^[2]

Rushing yards per attempt

1. Steve Smith, Michigan (6.5)
2. Eric Jordan, Purdue (6.4)
3. Owen Gill, Iowa (6.0)
4. Keith Byars, Ohio State (5.4)
5. Thomas Rooks, Illinois (5.4)^[2]

Yards per reception

1. Ronnie Harmon, Iowa (22.0)
2. Cedric Anderson, Ohio State (20.2)
3. Daryl Turner, Michigan State (19.6)
4. Al Toon, Wisconsin (19.6)
5. Dave Moritz, Iowa (18.2)^[2]

Points scored

1. Keith Byars, Ohio State (132)
2. Tom Nichol, Iowa (80)
3. Chris White, Illinois (78)
4. Bob Bergeron, Michigan (76)
5. Gary Ellerson, Wisconsin (66)
5. Thomas Rooks, Illinois (66)^[2]

All-conference players

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1983 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1983 College Football All-America Team.

1984 NFL Draft

The 1984 NFL Draft was held May 1–2, 1984. The following Big Ten players were selected in the first round of the draft:^[3]

More information Name, Position ...

Name	Position	Team	Round	Overall pick
Carl Banks	Linebacker	Michigan State	1	3
John Alt	Offensive tackle	Iowa	1	21
William Roberts	Guard	Ohio State	1	27

References

[1]
"2021 College Football Standings".
[2]
"1983 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
[3]
"1984 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2016.

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