Just days ago, the Illinois football team announced that Luke Altymer would start the season behind center.
Altymer was a big transfer addition to the Illini program this offseason. He is coming to Illinois after spending a couple of seasons with Ole Miss. With three years of eligibility remaining, big things are expected from Altmyer.
Illinois has a history of bringing in solid transfer quarterbacks. We just came off an eight-win campaign that featured a transfer in quarterback Tommy DeVito helping lead the way. This isn’t anything new for the program, though. There are plenty of big-name transfers we can take a look at over the past half-century.
Here are the top five Illinois football transfer quarterbacks of all time
Outside Looking In
- Brandon Peters
One of the more recent transfer quarterbacks on the outside looking in is Brandon Peters. He came to Illinois after spending two seasons with the Michigan Wolverines.
The Avon, Indiana, native was one of the best players in the class of 2016. He was a high four-star recruit who was ranked inside the top 100. Peters would pick the Wolverines as his landing spot.
After two lackluster years with Michigan, Peters made his way to Champaign to be Illinois’ starter. His best season with the Illini was in 2019 when he threw for 1,884 yards, 18 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Illinois would make a bowl game that season as well.
Out of all the quarterbacks on this list, Peters would have the second-lowest completion percentage at 53.8%, and he would average the fewest yards per season at just 1,161 yards each year.
- Jon Beutjer
The second transfer quarterback on the outside looking in is Jon Beutjer. He had the tough job of transitioning from the Kurt Kittner era.
Beutjer would start his career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Coming out of Wheaton Warrenville South High School in Illinois, Beutjer was a four-star recruit. Him heading to Iowa for a season was big for the Hawkeyes.
After his freshman season, Beutjer would decide to enter the transfer portal. He would pick Illinois as his landing spot. After the Illini went to the Sugar Bowl in 2001, Beutjer would be handed the reins during the 2022 campaign.
Illinois didn’t see success under the new leadership, though. This hurt Beutjer in the quarterback transfer rankings. He wouldn’t make a bowl game with the Illini, and Beutjer’s 25.7% winning percentage while in Champaign is the worst among the transfer quarterbacks on this list.
No. 5 Wes Lunt
Finally, we arrive at the Illinois football top five transfer quarterbacks of all time. First up on the list, checking in at No. 5, is Wes Lunt.
A trend that you may notice is that the four-star quarterbacks start elsewhere but eventually end up at Illinois. This was the case with Lunt as well. He was a four-star coming out of Rochester High School in Illinois.
With so much turmoil going on with the firing of Ron Zook, Lunt would head to Oklahoma State in 2012. He would spend one season with the Cowboys before deciding to enter the transfer portal.
Then-Illinois head coach Tim Beckman was able to land the former Illinois high school football star. Lunt would sit out the 2013 campaign due to transfer rules and would suit up starting in 2014.
Lunt would help Illinois get to one bowl game, the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl, where we would fall short against Louisiana Tech. A big reason we got to that bowl game was on the back of some great end-of-season play by Reilly O’Toole, though.
A reason Lunt made the top five was the fact he had a decent touchdown-to-interception ratio of 3.00, which was second among all Illinois transfer quarterbacks. His 57.7% completion percentage and 37.8% winning percentage were third-worst among all Illinois transfer quarterbacks, though.
No. 4 Dave Wilson
Illinois could have had something special with Dave Wilson in the early 1980s. But his recruitment and participation at Illinois got the program in some trouble.
Wilson would start his college career on the West Coast. He suited up for Fullerton Junior College where, according to multiple reports, he developed a reputation of having a strong arm. This piqued the interest of Illinois head coach, Mike White. White, who was hired before the 1980 season, came from California where he was the head coach of the Golden Bears for six seasons.
After his stop at Fullerton JC, Wilson would make his way to Champaign. There was an issue with his transcripts, though. In 1977, on the first play of Wilson’s career, he broke his arm. The Big Ten said that Wilson didn’t have the credits to be considered a senior, so he wasn’t eligible. Wilson said he was only a junior because he took a redshirt in 1977.
It ended up going to the Illinois Supreme Court, where they would rule in favor of Wilson. He would get to play.
In his lone season with the Illini, Wilson would go bananas. He threw for 3,154 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. He would have six 300-yard passing games and three 400-yard passing games that season, which are still both school records to the day.
The biggest issue, and the reason I didn’t have Wilson higher on this list, is the fact he was only 3-7-1 in 1980. Illinois started 3-2-1 but would then lose the final five games. Winning matters, and Wilson’s 27.3% winning percentage is the second-lowest among all of the transfer quarterbacks on this list.
No. 3 Tony Eason
If you are purely looking at NFL careers, then Tony Eason would arguably be the top Illinois football transfer quarterback of all time. But we aren’t looking at NFL careers.
Much like Dave Wilson, Eason would start his college career in California. He would suit up for American River College for two seasons before taking his talents to Illinois. This was a great get for Mike White and the Illini, as Eason would go on to have a solid run for the Orange and Blue.
Eason would spend two seasons with Illinois, both of which he put up big numbers. He would average 3,304 yards, 18.5 touchdowns, and 14.5 interceptions over the two years in Champaign. Eason did manage to make a bowl game, which ended up being a loss to Alabama in the 1982 Liberty Bowl.
The passing yards per season for Eason were the highest among all Illinois transfer quarterbacks. His winning percentage of 61.4% was also the second-highest. That is why Eason made the top three. But he was also docked for his touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Eason would finish his time at Illinois with a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 1.27, which checks in as the second-worst among all Illinois transfer quarterbacks. If he was more consistent, then Eason would have been higher on this list.
No. 2 Tommy DeVito
A familiar name that all Illinois football fans know and love is Tommy DeVito. He was a big transfer commitment for Bret Bielema and one that would set Illinois up for tremendous success.
DeVito was a four-star recruit coming out of Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey. The kid would pick Syracuse as his first landing spot, and he would see some success with the Orange. After four years of injuries and depth chart uncertainty, DeVito would decide to enter the transfer portal.
Illinois, in need of a quarterback after Brandon Peters graduated, came calling. DeVito would answer, and this ended up being a great marriage.
DeVito would come in and win the starting job from day one. He would end up throwing for 2,650 yards, 15 touchdowns, and four interceptions. This was one of the best seasons from an Illinois quarterback in over a decade.
Illinois would go on to win eight games in 2022, which was the most victories for the program since the 2007 campaign. We also made a bowl game under DeVito’s leadership.
DeVito completed 69.6% of his passes, which set an Illinois single-season record. His completion percentage is over 8% higher than the second-best Illinois transfer quarterback. DeVito also had the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of 3.75. He is second on the list in winning percentage at 61.5% as well.
There really aren’t any downfalls to DeVito’s time at Illinois. If we had won the bowl game over Mississippi State, then DeVito would have been No. 1 on this list.
No. 1 Jeff George
I think most people have already assumed this, but the No. 1 Illinois football transfer quarterback of all time has to go to Jeff George.
Coming out of Warren Central High School in Indiana, George would pick Purdue as his landing spot. This was a great get for the Boilermakers, as George was looked at as one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
George would spend one season with Purdue before their head coach would get fired. In steps a new coach, and George decided to hit the transfer portal.
After committing to the Miami Hurricanes, George would back away from that pledge and would later commit to Illinois. He would sit out the 1987 season due to transfer rules. After the 1987 season, Illinois head coach Mike White would resign due to recruiting violations. George would stick with his commitment to the program, though.
In steps new head coach, John Mackovic. George would thrive under Mackovic’s leadership. In his final year in Champaign, George would throw for 2,417 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Illinois would go 10-2 that year and would finish ranked No. 10 in the country.
George is the only Illinois football transfer quarterback to win a bowl game. He led Illinois to a 31-21 win over Virginia in the Citrus Bowl.
In both seasons with the Illini, George would make a bow game as well. He would also have a 66.7% winning percentage, which was the best out of all Illinois transfer quarterbacks. George’s 59.9% completion percentage was third-best as well. I put an emphasis on winning, and George was able to do that at the highest levels. That is why he is the best transfer quarterback in the history of the Illinois football program.