3 key numbers for the Illinois football game against Rutgers

3. 19 touchdowns

When the Illinois football team has a decent quarterback, we tend to win games. That hasn’t happened often in the last 20 or so years.

Illinois has finally found a decent quarterback. I would argue that Luke Altmyer is better than decent too. He is someone who is going to etch his name in the Illini record book for years to come.

Altmyer is currently sitting at 18 touchdown passes this season. A big number to keep an eye on for the Illinois football fanbase is 19 touchdowns. That is how many it will take for Altmyer to crawl into the top 10 all-time in program history.

So, Altmyer is just one touchdown away from getting on the single-season touchdown list. That is an impressive feat. I think there is a pretty good chance he accomplishes this goal too.

Rutgers has a bad pass defense. They are giving up 254.9 yards per game through the air, which ranks No. 105 out of 134 teams in the FBS. Altmyer should be able to fling the ball all over the field.

With that being said, there is a chance Altmyer throws multiple touchdowns on Saturday. If he throws one touchdown, he is in a tie for No. 8 on the list. If he throws two touchdowns, Altmyer would be in a tie for No. 7 with Tony Eason’s 1981 season. If Altmyer throws three touchdowns, he gets bumped up to No. 5 in single-season touchdown passes.

Buckle up Illinois football fans, this could be a big day for Altmyer. Him securing the win is the main goal, but etching his name in the record books would be a nice little icing on the cake.