The regular season has concluded, and that means two things for the Illinois football program.
The first thing is that the Illini will be playing in a bowl game. As an Illini fan, it is still hard to get used to that being a fact, but it is the new reality we live in. Illinois is a good program.
With the way college football is laid out today, the second thing that pops up once the regular season is over is the transfer portal. This is when teams can gain and lose players, but the goal is to fill voids and have more incoming than outgoing.
Illinois’ season just ended on Saturday, and only a few days later, we already have our first departure into the transfer portal.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that Illinois quarterback Trey Petty has decided to enter his name into the transfer portal and bolt Champaign.
Illinois QB Trey Petty intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal, per @APSportsAgency. He's a former three-star recruit from Starkville, Miss., who was 2023 Mississippi Class 7A Mr. Football. His offers included Georgia Tech, Indiana, Mississippi and Mississippi State. pic.twitter.com/ZNC2WQX915
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 2, 2025
Petty was a good get for the Illini. He was a three-star recruit who was the No. 784 player in the class of 2024. He was also the No. 51 quarterback in the country and the No. 21 player coming out of Mississippi.
We are now two years into Petty’s time at Illinois, and he is now looking for a new home. This move doesn’t come as a surprise.
Trey Petty is a good quarterback, but he just doesn’t make sense on the Illinois roster
I think Petty is a talented quarterback. You can’t be bad and be the 7A Mr. Football in the state of Mississippi. But the thing is, he doesn’t really fit in with the Illinois offense.
Illinois’ offense, especially under Barry Lunney Jr., is geared toward the throwing quarterback. We need more of a gunslinger, and that is just not what Petty brings to the table. He is a true dual-threat quarterback.
Petty wasn’t going to get playing time next season. I think this was a smart move by him. I was close to putting him on the five players who I think could hit the transfer portal list.
When it comes to Illinois, the quarterback room didn’t lose much. I noticed for the first time that Ethan Hampton is listed as a junior, so we still have him for next season. He was a starter at Northern Illinois before transferring to Illinois this season.
If you want to look at potential starters for 2026, I think Carson Boyd could compete for the starting job. He will be a redshirt freshman, and he is a superstar quarterback out of St. Louis.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see Bret Bielema go into the transfer portal for a quarterback, too. Losing Luke Altmyer will hurt, but there are plenty of options for Illinois to mull over. I wish Petty nothing but the best moving forward.