Illinois football: 5 observations from the Illini win over Charlotte

3. Passing attack is still an issue

Even with the running game looking amazing, the passing attack still reared its ugly head on Saturday. Illinois football cannot pass the ball, and this is a problem moving forward.

I am not going to put all of the blame on Brandon Peters. There were a couple of drops in the game, and there have been drops in previous games that affected Peters’ stat line. But, let’s be honest, 90% of the blame does fall on Peters’ shoulders.

Once again, Peters failed to complete 60% of his throws on Saturday. It is not like we were playing an Ohio State. The kid should be able to complete passes against Charlotte. But that didn’t happen. Peters ended the day going 10-of-19 for 79 yards and one touchdown. That is a 52.6% completion percentage for those keeping track at home.

Not being able to complete passes is a trend with Peters. In the 28 games he has played in during his career, Peters only had eight contests where he has hit the 60% completion mark. In three of those eight contests, he threw four or fewer passes in the game.

Even with a win, I will stick to my guns and say Peters is not the answer at quarterback. It is time to move on to Art Sitkowski. While Sitkowski isn’t going to light the world on fire, he is someone who has proven he could complete passes this season.

Sitkowski has thrown for 611 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception this season. He also has a 56.9% completion percentage, which is nearly 10% higher than Peters. Sitkowski completes more passes and has put the ball in the end zone more frequently. What are we doing?