Illinois Football: 3 key players for the Illini to beat Toledo

Game one of what should be a great year for the Illinois football program is this Saturday.

The Toledo Rockets have a good program, so the Illini will find themselves in a tight spot or two this weekend.

With the way Toledo can run the ball, and how good their secondary is, look for the Rockets to put up a fight. Every Illinois player is important, but there are a few key players who I believe could swing the game in either direction.

Here are three key players for the Illinois football team to beat the Toledo Rockets

Luke Altmyer – Quarterback

On the offensive side of the ball, I think quarterback Luke Altmyer is one of the key players for Illinois to beat Toledo. I don’t necessarily mean that Altmyer has to ball out either.

Transferring and joining a new program has to be a rough process. Someone like Altmyer doesn’t just have to learn a new team, but he has to learn a new playbook while trying to gel with that new team.

Altmyer isn’t going up against a cupcake team either. Toledo had the No. 17 ranked pass defense in 2022, as they only gave up 191.8 yards per game through the air. Most of those secondary returns led by Quinyon Mitchell, who had five interceptions last season.

I am not looking for Altmyer to have a big game statistically. I am looking for him to not make mistakes. Be a game manager in game one so that we can get off on the right foot. Work through some chemistry issues as the game goes on, but there is no reason to try to push the ball down the field.

Altmyer won’t win us the game on Saturday, but he could end up costing us the game if he makes too many mistakes. Mistake-free football is what I want out of him in game one until he gets his feet underneath him.