With the season less than two weeks away, the Illinois football program has named its starting quarterback.
Illini quarterback play has not been good for the past decade. I would argue we have only had a couple of decent quarterbacks behind center since the Kurt Kittner days.
In year two of the Bret Bielema era, Illinois was able to bring in Syracuse transfer quarterback, Tommy DeVito. This was a great get for the Illini, as DeVito would go on to throw for 2,650 yards, 15 touchdowns, and four interceptions. He also set the Illinois single-season completion percentage record at 69.6%.
DeVito’s lone season in Champaign was sensational, and now Bielema is trying to catch lightning in a bottle again with another transfer.
On Monday afternoon, the Illinois football program took to social media to announce that they have named a starting quarterback. Without much surprise, Ole Miss transfer, Luke Altmyer, has been named the lead man under center to start the 2023 campaign.
Getting the start. @lukealtmyer9 has been named QB1. #Illini // #HTTO // #famILLy pic.twitter.com/pgubEtulaa
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) August 21, 2023
Altmyer doesn’t come with a ton of experience. He had a chance to play at little at Ole Miss, throwing for 317 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. The sample size just isn’t big enough to determine the quality of quarterback Illinois has starting. It does seem that the former four-star recruit does have a ton of potential still to display, though.
It won’t be a one-and-done season for Altmyer either. Unlike DeVito, Altmyer is only a sophomore. He took a redshirt for one season at Ole Miss and then played in 2022. With three seasons remaining, Altmyer has a chance to cement himself as one of the best to ever do it for the Illini.
Transfer quarterbacks do have a history of success with the Illinois football program
Every Illini fan thinks Altmyer has a chance to be a really good player for the team. As a former four-star with nearly every team in the country wanting him, Altmyer clearly has talent. Hopefully, he can be one of the best transfer quarterbacks we have seen in Champaign. That will be a tough challenge, though.
Some of the best quarterbacks in the history of the Illinois program have arrived in Champaign via the transfer portal.
Tony Eason spent two seasons with the Illini and threw for 6,608 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 29 interceptions. He didn’t start at Illinois, though. Eason played two seasons at American River College in California before becoming a legend with the Illini. He was the No. 15 pick in the 1983 NFL Draft.
In Jeff George’s final year at Illinois, he threw for 2,417 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. George would actually suit up for Purdue in 1986 before transferring to Illinois to finish out his college career. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft.
While his record might not show it, Jon Beutjer had some good numbers with Illinois. He threw for 5,190 yards, 39 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions in three seasons. He actually started with Iowa before finishing up with the Illini.
Wes Lunt is another name many younger fans might remember. He started out at Oklahoma State and transferred to Illinois after one season. Lunt’s stats with the Illini included 5,900 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in three seasons.
Illinois managed to get to a bowl game with Brandon Peters under center. He threw for 3,483 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while in Champaign. This was after spending two years at Michigan.
And lastly, DeVito. This kid had so much spunk. DeVito’s numbers that I mentioned above were a huge reason we got to eight wins in 2022. Adding him was big for the program.
I hope Illinois struck gold with another great transfer quarterback. Altmyer has the pedigree to be good, now let’s see what he can do with the Orange and Blue.