1953 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

{{Short description|American college football season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox college sports team season

| year = 1953

| team = Illinois Fighting Illini

| sport = football

| image = 1953 Illinois Fighting Illini football team.jpg

| image_size = 285

| conference = Big Ten Conference

| short_conf = Big Ten

| CoachRank = 7

| APRank = 7

| record = 7–1–1

| conf_record = 5–1

| head_coach = Ray Eliot

| hc_year = 12th

| mvp = Don Ernst

| captain = Robert Lenzini

| stadium = Memorial Stadium

| champion = Big Ten co-champion

}}

{{1953 Big Ten Conference football standings}}

The 1953 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1953 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 12th year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 7–1–1 record, finished in a tie for first place in the Big Ten Conference, and were ranked #7 in the final AP Poll. The sole defeat was a 34–7 loss to Wisconsin.{{cite web|title=1953 Illinois Schedule and Results|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=SR/College Football|access-date=December 16, 2015|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/illinois/1953-schedule.html}}

Tackle Don Ernst was selected as the team's most valuable player.{{cite web|title=Fighting Illini Football Record Book|publisher=University of Illinois|year=2015|access-date=December 28, 2016|page=155|url=http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/fightingillini.com/documents/2015/8/3/3_History_7_30.pdf}} Sophomore halfback J. C. Caroline led the team with 1,256 rushing yards on 194 attempts (6.5 yards per carry) and was selected as a consensus first-team player on the 1953 College Football All-America Team.{{cite web|title=2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections|publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)|year=2014|access-date=February 10, 2015|page=6|url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf|archive-date=December 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222163944/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf|url-status=dead}} Guard John Bauer was selected by the Newspaper Enterprise Association as a third-team All-American.{{cite news|author=Harry Grayson|author-link=Harry Grayson|title=Harry Grayson Picks All-America for 1953|work=Independent Record|location=Helena, Montana|date=1953-11-29}}