Illinois Football: Illini QB Brandon Peters has a career first half

Brandon Peters just had one of the best halves of his Illinois football career.

The likely Illini starting quarterback heading into the Rutgers game was going to be Artur Sitkowski. That was until Sitkowski left the Penn State game with an injury. In stepped Peters, who would go on to throw the game-winning pass against the Nittany Lions.

Peters finished off Penn State and has now carried that momentum into the Rutgers game. It is now halftime, and in the first half, Peters is 9-of-12 for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

This was one of the best halves of the Illinois football quarterback’s career.

Peters has two great touchdown throws against the Scarlet Knights so far. The first one was arguably the best pass I have ever seen him throw. It was a 52-yard dart to a streaking Isaiah Williams. The pass was on the money and hit Williams in stride. I haven’t seen anything like this from Peters in years.

The second touchdown for Peters was more of a great play call by offensive coordinator, Tony Petersen. It was a play-action where every defensive player bit to the right. Meanwhile, tight end Daniel Barker snuck out behind everyone. Peters hit Barker on a short pass, and he took it into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown.

Honestly, this wasn’t just one of the best halves of football by Peters. If he stopped right now, it would be one of his best games as a college quarterback. He has played in 29 games in college, and Peters’ 153 yards through the air would be the 11th most of his career. He has also thrown for two or more touchdowns in seven total games as a college quarterback.

Illinois is playing well. If Peters continues throwing the ball as well as he did in the first half, then there is no doubt this Illini team can pull out the win. Let’s see how things go to start the third quarter.