Illinois

Maintaining the same helmet design, Coach Mike White added one-and-one-quarter-inch diameter, dark navy blue and white Chief Illiniwek award stickers to the helmets. He also maintained his wide-open offense with future Colts QB Jack Trudeau continuing the tally of obscene passing numbers. White nurtured the Illinois squad through the 1987 season, with mixed results. The '83 squad had a great 10-1 record, losing only to Missouri in their opener which earned them the Rose Bowl bid. They dropped the game badly to UCLA, 45-9 but it was believed that the program was no entrenched as one of the best in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, inconsistency led them down the path to 7-4, 6-5-1, and an eventual drop-off to '87's 3-7-1 mark which ended White's reign and brought in John Mackovic.