‘Brandon is our quarterback’: Illini sticking with Peters at QB

Illinois head coach Lovie Smith making no mistake in his declaration Brandon Peters is his starting QB now and in the future.

Barring a major injury, don’t expect Illinois to be swapping out quarterbacks any time soon.

In his Monday media conference, Illini head coach Lovie Smith used his classic phrase to express his desire to remain consistent at signal caller for this Saturday’s matchup at Minnesota (2:30 p.m., BTN) and beyond.

“Brandon is our quarterback,” Smith said. “Brandon is going to play the majority of the time.”

Peters ranks 15th among Football Bowl Subdivision schools in passing touchdowns per game (2.5), 14th in points responsible for per game (18) and has already surpassed the Illinois season passing touchdown leader for each of the past three seasons (2018 - AJ Bush Jr. 6; 2017 - Jeff George Jr. 7; 2016 - Wes Lunt 8).

“Every time I talk on Brandon I say the same thing. I love him being our quarterback,” Smith said. “He can make all the throws. He’s made a lot of plays for us this season...I know he can’t wait to finish it up for us.”

Despite suffering through a frustrating performance in a 42-38 home loss to Nebraska on Sept. 21, Brandon Peters will be behind center when the Illini (2-2, 0-1 in the Big Ten Conference) try to knock off undefeated Minnesota Saturday. Peters finished just 9 of 22 for 78 yards (all of which were season lows) with one touchdown and one interception. The loss in the Big Ten opener showcased the Illini’s offense under second-year offensive coordinator Rod Smith wasn’t necessarily as balanced as they’d hoped when entering the 2019 campaign.

Illinois currently sits 13th in the conference in passing offense at 199 yards per game but it should also come as little surprise that situational statistics show Peters has struggled in the second half, fourth quarter and when backed up deep in his own end of the field.

Peters, a graduate transfer from Michigan who has two years of eligibility left at Illinois, is just 3 of 13 for 46 yards when the ball is snapped behind its own 20-yard-line. When Illinois gets behind the chains offensively (third down and seven or more yards to go), Peters is 9 of 19 for 55 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and just one completion over 15 yards.

“I think (Peters) is doing pretty good. Is there things we need to get cleaned up? Absolutely,” Rod Smith said Monday. “But there has been things where he’s been really good and there have been some things where he’d like to have back. He’s seven, eight games into his (college) career so there is some jelling and things that need to take place. At the same time, he’s shown some signs where I think he can be a really good quarterback before it is all said and done.”

Illinois quarterback Brandon Peters' situation stats through the first four games of the 2019 season / cfbstats.com

With a bye week to prepare for this Minnesota defense, Peters may be able to anticipate the possibility of finding success. The Gophers, which is one of 17 undefeated FBS programs in 2019, are ninth in the Big Ten in passing defense despite facing the Georgia Southern triple-option running attack in a 35-32 win on Sept. 14.

In its 38-31 win at Purdue last week, Boilermakers redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Plummer was 23 of 41 for 245 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a substitution role after Purdue Elijah Sindelar was knocked out of the game with a first-quarter sack that resulted in a broken clavicle.

“Their center (Doug Kramer) may be one of the best guys I've seen on film at center in any year at any level,” Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said. “Their quarterback is playing at a really high level. He can distribute the ball. He's a really good passer and a really good football player. We've got to focus on everybody. It's not just one guy anymore. It's everybody.”

Lovie Smith and the rest of the Illini coaching staff have obviously seen no need to go to a backup option whether that be redshirt freshman Matt Robinson (1 of 3 for 31 yards this season) and highly acclaimed freshman dual-threat option Isaiah Williams. The Illini’s fourth-year head coach showed no signs of wanting to see anybody but Peters behind center.

“Isaiah knows eventually someday he’s going to help us win a lot of games but we can leave at that,” Lovie Smith said.