IL
NORivalry History
Illinois-Northwestern
Illinois and Northwestern have met 118 times since 1892. This page keeps the record, streaks, trophy context, and recent results in one canonical rivalry URL.
Series snapshot
- Record
- 58-55-5
- Current streak
- Illinois 1 game
- Longest streak
- Illinois 7 games (1913-1928)
- Avg. margin / points
- 16.5 / 37.1
Series overview
Illinois 58-55-5 Northwestern. Current streak: Illinois 1 game.
Last five meetings
Illinois 3 | Northwestern 2
Largest margin
66 points
Rivalry notes
- The tracked window runs from 1892 through 2024.
- 118 completed games currently back the series calculations on this page.
- The latest tracked meeting was Nov 30, 2024.
Related pages
Move from rivalry history into team-level seasons, rosters, and archives.
Rivalry guide
What this rivalry is
Illinois and Northwestern have a tracked series that starts in 1892 and spans 118 listed meetings. The page combines series record, streaks, recent games, and research links in one canonical rivalry URL.
Land of Lincoln Trophy gives this matchup a named trophy context in addition to the team-by-team series record.
Series history
- Status
- Active series
- Years
- 1892-2024
- Busiest era
- 1930s, 10 games
- Longest pause
- 6 years (1915-1922)
- 1930s10 games
- 1940s10 games
- 1950s10 games
- 1960s10 games
Biggest games and recent trend
Landmark games are selected from the same tracked rivalry results used for the series record.
4 featured games
Latest meeting
2024 - Nov 30, 2024
Illinois 38, Northwestern 28. Most recent completed chapter in the tracked series.
Closest finish
1978 - Sep 9, 1978
Illinois 0, Northwestern 0. The smallest final-score margin in the available game log.
Highest scoring
2023 - Nov 25, 2023
Illinois 43, Northwestern 45. The biggest combined scoring total in the available game log.
Largest margin
1894 - Nov 3, 1894
Illinois 66, Northwestern 0. The widest final-score gap in the available game log.
Recent trend
- Last five
- Illinois 3, Northwestern 2 across 5 games
- Last ten
- Illinois 3, Northwestern 7 across 10 games
- Scoring profile
- Lower-scoring recent history; average total 37.1, average margin 16.5.
- Current streak
- Illinois 1 game
Players and coaches from recent chapters
Recent leaders are capped to keep the page fast while still pointing readers toward the names around recent meetings.
Joshua McCray
Illinois, 2024
Rushing Yards: 609
Luke Altmyer
Illinois, 2024
Passing Yards: 2717
Pat Bryant
Illinois, 2024
Receiving Yards: 978
A.J. Henning
Northwestern, 2024
Receiving Yards: 603
Cam Porter
Northwestern, 2024
Rushing Yards: 501
Jack Lausch
Northwestern, 2024
Passing Yards: 1714
Coach context
Coach rows summarize recent rivalry-season overlap for each program.
Bret Bielema
Illinois - 2021-2024 - 28-22
Pat Fitzgerald
Northwestern - 2020-2022 - 11-22
David Braun
Northwestern - 2023-2024 - 12-13
Rod Smith
Illinois - 2020 - 0-1
Weather, rankings, and research links
5 recent rivalry games have weather context, average temperature 40F, 1 windy, 2 with precipitation.
Ranking context is available through the rankings archive and team season-result pages.
Illinois team page
Team history, seasons, roster context, and related data views.
Northwestern team page
Team history, seasons, roster context, and related data views.
Illinois season results
Season-by-season schedules, records, rankings, and game links.
Northwestern season results
Season-by-season schedules, records, rankings, and game links.
Illinois weather
Weather impact for games involving this program.
Northwestern weather
Weather impact for games involving this program.
Game stats archive
Search box scores and detailed game stat pages.
Rankings
Poll and ranking context around rivalry seasons.
College football records
National record and history context.
Historical comparison
Compare program seasons and statistical profiles.
Recent rivalry results
The latest games are rendered in the page HTML so search engines and readers can see the rivalry's recent chapter without client-side interaction.
10 most recent tracked games
| Date | Matchup | Score | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 30, 2024 | Illinois at Northwestern | Illinois 38, Northwestern 28 | Neutral site | Illinois |
| Nov 25, 2023 | Northwestern at Illinois | Illinois 43, Northwestern 45 | Venue unavailable | Northwestern |
| Nov 26, 2022 | Illinois at Northwestern | Illinois 41, Northwestern 3 | Venue unavailable | Illinois |
| Nov 27, 2021 | Northwestern at Illinois | Illinois 47, Northwestern 14 | Venue unavailable | Illinois |
| Dec 12, 2020 | Illinois at Northwestern | Illinois 10, Northwestern 28 | Venue unavailable | Northwestern |
| Nov 30, 2019 | Northwestern at Illinois | Illinois 10, Northwestern 29 | Venue unavailable | Northwestern |
| Nov 24, 2018 | Illinois at Northwestern | Illinois 16, Northwestern 24 | Venue unavailable | Northwestern |
| Nov 25, 2017 | Northwestern at Illinois | Illinois 7, Northwestern 42 | Venue unavailable | Northwestern |
| Nov 26, 2016 | Illinois at Northwestern | Illinois 21, Northwestern 42 | Venue unavailable | Northwestern |
| Nov 28, 2015 | Northwestern at Illinois | Illinois 14, Northwestern 24 | Neutral site | Northwestern |
Next best actions
Keep exploring Illinois-Northwestern
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