| 1 | Sun Sep 3 | at Rutgers | L7-24 | 0-1 | .000 | HighPoint.com Stadium · Piscataway, NJ |
| 2 | Sat Sep 9 | vsUTEP | W38-7 | 1-1 | .500 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
| 3 | Sat Sep 16 | at#21Duke | L14-38 | 1-2 | .333 | Wallace Wade Stadium · Durham, NC |
| 4 | Sat Sep 23 | vsMinnesota | W37-34 (OT) | 2-2 | .500 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
| 5 | Sat Sep 30 | vs#6Penn State | L13-41 | 2-3 | .400 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
| 6 | Sat Oct 7 | vsHoward | W23-20 | 3-3 | .500 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
| 7 | Sat Oct 21 | atNebraska | L9-17 | 3-4 | .429 | Memorial Stadium · Lincoln, NE |
| 8 | Sat Oct 28 | vsMaryland | W33-27 | 4-4 | .500 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
| 9 | Sat Nov 4 | vsIowa | L7-10 | 4-5 | .444 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
| 10 | Sat Nov 11 | atWisconsin | W24-10 | 5-5 | .500 | Camp Randall Stadium · Madison, WI |
| 11 | Sat Nov 18 | vsPurdue | W23-15 | 6-5 | .545 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
| 12 | Sat Nov 25 | atIllinois | W45-43 | 7-5 | .583 | Alumni Memorial Field at Foster Stadium · Lexington, VA |
| BOWLS | Sat Dec 23 | vsUtah | W14-7 | 8-5 | .615 | Ryan Field · Evanston, IL |
