Illinois Football: Good, bad, and ugly from the Illini quarterbacks through week 3

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Sep 2, 2022; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini quarterback Tommy DeVito (3) drops back to pass the ball in the first quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Illinois football struggled to find a good leader at the quarterback position for the past five to 10 years.

Last season alone was a struggle for the Illini. The quarterback room combined for 1,874 yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions, which was actually one of the better seasons I have seen lately.

The 2022 campaign has gotten off on the right foot, though. Bret Bielema was able to bring in transfer quarterback Tommy DeVito to man the ship, and I have been happy with the job thus far. While it has only been three games, he has done a good job behind center in those three contests.

Here is the good, bad, and ugly from the Illinois football quarterbacks through week 3.

Good

There is a lot of good to take away from having DeVito as the starting quarterback. The biggest plus for the Illini is the fact we can move the ball down the field.

Through three games this season, DeVito already has 622 yards passing. If he continues on this pace, he would finish with 2,488 yards passing, which would be the most passing yards by an Illinois quarterback since Wes Lunt threw for 2,761 yards in 2015.

On top of DeVito moving the ball through the air, he also has six touchdowns through three games. If he keeps up that pace, he would finish with 24 touchdowns in 2022. That would be the most passing touchdowns by an Illinois quarterback since the 2008 campaign when Juice Williams also had 22 touchdowns.

One more note on how well DeVito has done for the Illini through three games. He currently has a completion rate of 67%. That is a great number for any quarterback in the country, but it is super rare for an Illinois quarterback.

Illinois hasn’t had a primary starting quarterback with a completion rate of 60% or higher since Lunt in 2014. If DeVito would finish the season at 67%, he would set the all-time single-season completion percentage record for the Illini, which is currently held by Nathan Scheelhaase. He had a completion rate of 66.7% in 2013.

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