I have been back and forth on who Illinois football should start at quarterback, but I have made my decision.
Isaiah Williams should be the permanent starter.
Two out of the first three drives of the game for Illinois against Iowa were sensational. The first drive resulted in a 24-yard touchdown reception by Daniel Baker. The third one was a 12-yard touchdown reception by Josh Imatorbhebhe.
Each of these touchdowns were thrown by Brandon Peters. It seemed that Peters was in a groove and was going to lead this Illinois football program to an upset win over No. 19 Iowa. As soon as I got my hopes up, Peters came tumbling back down to earth.
After starting a fiery 7-of-7 throwing the ball, Peters had six more drives in the game where he was 3-of-11. He would finish the game 10-of-18 for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns. This was a 55-percent completion percentage for the game, and in the last six drives, Peters had a 27-percent completion percentage.
This is nothing new with Peters, though. You would think the 55-percent completion percentage would be the outlier game, but it is actually the norm. The 72-percent completion percentage against Nebraska is the outlier. Last season, the only one as a full-time starter, Peters had a 55.3-percent completion percentage on 275 pass attempts.
We know what Peters is as a player. We know his ceiling. But we don’t know the ceiling of Isaiah Williams. So, I believe a permanent switch at quarterback needs to happen.
Listen, I know Williams isn’t as accurate as Peters. Even in the game on Saturday, Williams only completed 43-percent of his passes. But the element of Williams’ mobility far outweighs the accuracy of either quarterback.
If Peters completed over 60-percent of his passes in each game, then this wouldn’t be a conversation right now. But he is not doing that. Peters can’t move the ball consistently. Williams, on the other hand, does have some wild passes, but he can move the ball down the field.
Peters had a total of eight drives against Iowa compared to Williams getting two at the end of the game. Usually, at the end of games, the opposing team leading by a lot would play softer defense. That wasn’t the case. Iowa was bringing blitzes and playing their regular defense.
With that being said, Peters had a total of 133 yards (116 passing, 17 rushing) in his eight drives on the field. Williams had a total of 121 yards (83 passing, 38 rushing) in his two drives on the field.
It is time to make a permanent move to Williams at quarterback. I am willing to take the bad with the good. I imagine there will be a decent amount of bad considering he hasn’t played much. But Williams is the future of the Illinois football program. Let’s prepare for next season by getting Williams acclimated to the starting role in 2020.