As an Illinois football fan, it is hard to contain the excitement of what we could possibly have on our hands with Brandon Peters.
Yes that Peters who played for Michigan for two years only to be thrown aside for the next shiny toy to come into the Wolverines program. It is the same Peters who only had 110 attempts under his belt with Michigan and never a real chance in a struggling Wolverines offense. This kid has a new home and has been everything I have expected as a fan and more.
In the two short years with Michigan, Peters stat line showed 58-of-110 (52.7-percent), 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. In just two games with the Orange and Blue, that same player is 38-of-58 (65.5-percent) and has thrown for 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. Granted, the competition has been a little easier because the two games he has played for the Illini are non-conference foes. Almost every game he played for Michigan was against Big Ten opponents.
Even with that being said, Illinois has something special on their hands, and he continues to impress me every game. Peters’ 163 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in the game against Akron was a great start to his time with the Illini. He followed that up this past weekend with 227 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception.
I was honestly most impressed with Peters following the interception he threw to UConn. It was more of a bad read than a bad pass. But he learned from that mistake and dominated the rest of the game. Those are traits of a good leader on the field.
It is rare Illinois has a quarterback behind center with the talent Peters has displayed. His top 100 recruiting ranking was one thing, but he still has to prove it on the field. Starting your Illinois career off throwing for 390 yards, 7 touchdowns and 1 interception is a great way to win over the team and fanbase.
Those numbers also put Peters in rarified air. It is hard to find single-game stats dating back before 2000, but since 2000, the seven touchdowns Peters has thrown ties the most in the first two games for an Illini quarterback. The player he is tied with is Wes Lunt. Lunt managed to throw for seven touchdowns back in 2014.
So, what you have seen through the first two games has only happened one other time in the last two decades and probably further back than that. Peters has also etched his name in the Illinois record book as well. His four touchdowns against UConn now ranks No. 7 all-time in single-game touchdown passes for the Illini.
Honestly, it would not shock me to see Peters break a number of records by the time he is finished in Champaign. His excellent start to the 2019 season is the only the beginning of great things to come for this program. The Brandon Peters era has started off with a bang. Let’s keep this bus rolling.