Stability at quarterback is key to Illinois football seeing success the past half-decade.
Bret Bielema has brought talent and depth to the quarterback position at Illinois. Tommy DeVito and Luke Altmyer were two great starters. They both had backups who were solid, too.
Heading into the 2026 campaign, the question for the Illinois quarterback room wasn’t who was going to start. We all knew this was Katin Houser’s job. The big question was who the backup was going to be.
A few days ago in the weekly press conference, Bret Bielema let the cat out of the bag.
“I think it is fair to say if Katin (Houser) has a cramp and is going to miss two series or two plays, we would throw Carson (Boyd) in there first.”
It wasn’t a huge surprise, but Carson Boyd looks to have secured the backup job at Illinois. Logically, this makes the most sense.
Boyd is the only other quarterback on the roster who isn’t a freshman. Houser is a fifth-year player, and then you have Boyd, who is a sophomore. The other two quarterbacks on the roster, Michael Clayton II and Dane Eisenmenger, are both freshmen.
Illinois was able to snag Boyd from the class of 2025, and it wasn’t easy. He was a wanted player, with scholarship offers from teams like Louisville, Iowa State, and Georgia Tech, to name a few.
Carson Boyd has the pedigree to bring stability and depth to the Illinois football quarterback room
Boyd has proven himself at every level. The last time we saw him on the field, it was with Cardinal Ritter College Prep, flinging the ball around to the tune of 3,261 yards, 27 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
Just throwing the football, Boyd finished his high school career with 78 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. What set him apart was his legs, though.
Boyd was always a good runner, but his senior year at Cardinal Ritter was on another level. He had 1,162 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
Illinois has a pure thrower of the football starting the 2026 campaign. I have no expectation that Houser will lose the job. Thankfully, Illinois is ready in case something goes wrong. To have a backup like Boyd ready to go is a luxury.
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