Football
Illinois Football: Looking Back at The Last Time Illinois Football Beat UCLA
Looking back at last time the Illini took down UCLA, over 15 years ago.
The Illinois Football program is preparing for its biggest opportunity of the 2026 season on Friday night against UCLA.
Standing ahead of the Illini is one of the few remaining undefeated teams in college football. However, they’ll have to attempt to pull off the upset on the Bruins’ turf. Bret Bielema’s red-hot 6-3 Illini head west to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (CA), looking to hand the 4th-ranked Bruins their first loss of the season. Notably, the matchup does have some history, as Illinois and UCLA have split their previous 12 meetings, with their last matchup being the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
That said, the circumstances are now considerably different. First-year head coach Bob Chesney has UCLA off to a 9-0 start for the first time since 1998. The Bruins are 1 of just 2 undefeated teams remaining in college football and have emerged as legitimate College Football Playoff contenders. Meanwhile, Illinois enters Pasadena at 6-3 and riding a 4-game winning streak after picking up Big Ten victories over Michigan State, Oregon, Maryland, and Nebraska. Despite getting off to a rough 2-3 start, the Illini have impressively secured bowl eligibility for a 3rd consecutive season. Still, with 3 regular-season tests left ahead, there’s still plenty left for Illinois to accomplish.
It’s been nearly 15 years since these two programs last shared the field… So, before Friday’s highly anticipated showdown in Pasadena, let’s take a look back at how Illinois came away with a 20-14 victory in the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
Photo Credit: Illini Athletics. (fightingillini.com). Illinois celebrates a 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Victory.
Looking Back at When Illinois Football Took Down UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Illinois’ last victory over UCLA came under some pretty remarkable circumstances.
On December 31, 2011, the Illini met the Bruins in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco. By that point, both programs had already fired their head coaches, leaving interim coaches Vic Koenning and Mike Johnson to lead their respective teams into the postseason. It was certainly an unusual setup for a bowl game. Especially with both programs looking to put disappointing seasons behind them and finish the year on a high note.
UCLA entered the matchup at 6-6 after a mediocre regular season, but had still remarkably managed to claim the Pac-12 South division title before falling to Oregon in the PAC-12 Championship Game. Despite finishing the regular season at 6-7, the Bruins received an NCAA waiver that allowed them to compete in the postseason.
Meanwhile, Illinois’ season had also taken a dramatic turn. The Illini opened the year off to a hot 6-0 start and appeared poised for a special season on the shoulders of QB Nathan Scheelhaas, before ultimately crumbling, losing each of their final 6 regular-season games. That collapse ultimately cost Ron Zook his job, leaving Illinois searching for a much-needed reset heading into the bowl game.
Recapping the Illini’s 20-14 Win
The Bruins struck first, taking a 7-0 lead on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Prince to Taylor Embree in the second quarter. Illinois struggled to generate much offensively early, but Derek Dimke’s 36-yard field goal just before halftime gave the Illini some life.
However, the game completely shifted in Illinois’ favor following halftime.
Coming out of the break, Terry Hawthorne intercepted Prince and returned it 39 yards for a pick-6, giving Illinois their first lead at 10-7. It was the spark Illinois was desperately seeking, and exactly the play the Illini needed to get their offense going. QB Nathan Scheelhaase later connected with A.J. Jenkins for a 60-yard touchdown, putting Illinois ahead 20-7 and giving the defense some breathing room.
Though UCLA managed to find the end zone again late, the Illini held on for a 20-14 victory. The victory snapped the program’s 6-game losing streak and secured back-to-back victories for the first time in school history.
More than 15 years later, a resurgent Illinois Football program will get another shot at a much stronger UCLA squad, hoping to make history repeat itself in Pasadena.
