Come Tuesday night, a local group of sports fanatics will sit down for their preseason projections on the Illinois football season.
It’s anybody’s guess.
The win-loss estimates could fall between 3-9 and 8-4. With a brand new staff, multiple transfers and incoming freshmen, the Illini program is overflowing with members who barely knew the location of Champaign-Urbana a year or two ago.
Your job, if you dare to undertake it, is to count how many times one word — transfer — is used in this column. More than 20 short-termers will attempt to compensate for the subpar high school recruiting by previous coach Lovie Smith.
All nine offensive and defensive positions have transfer help.
Breaking down the offense➜ Quarterback: Michigan’s Brandon Peters, Rutgers’ Artur Sitkowski and Northern Michigan’s Ryan Johnson join sophomore returnee Matt Robinson as coach Bret Bielema’s “top four.”
Dating to Iowa transfer Jon Beutjer in 2002, this will mark the 10th time in 20 years that a transfer has led the team … even as Juice Williams and Nathan Scheelhaase ate up eight of those seasons. More on the quarterbacks in today’s last segment.
➜ Tight end: Third-year transfer Luke Ford (Georgia) and junior standout Daniel Barker anticipate a breakout year as pass catchers in the Bielema system.
➜ Running back: Chase Brown (Western Michigan) and Chase Hayden (Arkansas and East Carolina) are the top two running backs as they enter the season. Brown has made offseason strides and was labeled an All-Big Ten third-team selection by the media last season.
➜ Wide receiver: Transfers Donny Navarro (Valparaiso) and Brian Hightower (Miami) should receive first call alongside “QB transfer” Isaiah Williams on the wings, with transfers Khmari Thompson (Missouri), Desmond Dan (New Mexico State), Jafar Armstrong (Notre Dame) and Keion Battle (Northern Illinois) among the hopefuls. Oh, and Casey Washington “transferred back” after enrolling at Wake Forest this offseason.
➜ Offensive line: Two noteworthy additions at guard are 2019 FCS All-American Blake Jeresaty (Wofford) and three-time Patriot League first-team pick Jack Badovinac (Colgate). If they start alongside Illini veterans Doug Kramer, Alex Palczewski and Vederian Lowe, the quintet of “super seniors” could be the nation’s oldest unit since the World War II era.
Let’s look at defense➜ Linebacker: North Carolina State’s Calvin Hart Jr. joins a trio of established linebackers who missed spring drills but show excellent promise: Jake Hansen, Tarique Barnes and Khalan Tolson.
➜ Outside linebackers: These are actually defensive ends in a two-point stance. On the strong side, Owen Carney Jr. returns. On the weak side, sophomore Seth Coleman is challenging senior Isaiah Gay. Look for late-arriving Virginia Tech transfer Alec Bryant to join the group soon.
➜ Defensive line: Nose guard Rod Perry II, who arrived a year ago from South Carolina State, has emerged as the leader of the Big Uglies. This is one of the few positions where redshirt freshman tackles (Keith Randolph and Jer’Zhan Newton) may push back veterans like 15-game starter Jamal Woods.
➜ Defensive backs: Missouri Baptist transfer Tailon Leitzsey received a scholarship and is among the backups (as is freshman Kionte Curry) for returning corners Tony Adams and Devon Witherspoon. The defense can ill afford for either of those two to miss time. At safety, Canadian Sydney Brown is a returning starter with Jartavius Martin likely alongside, although transfers Eddie Smith (Alabama), Derrick Smith (Miami) and Prather Hudson (Georgia) are contending.
Under centerBack to quarterback. After Notre Dame transfer Tommy O’Connell started in the 1951 and 1952 seasons, Illinois saw 26 years of quarterback leadership by enrollees out of high school.
Oddly enough, the changed with coach Gary Moeller, who went the junior-college route for Lawrence McCullough in 1979.
Then came coach Mike White, who uplifted the program by landing junior-college transfers Dave Wilson and Tony Eason.
From 1979 on, the Illini have often used someone else’s quarterback, most prominently the multi-year efforts of Jeff George, Jon Beutjer, Wes Lunt and Peters.
In the two decades since Kurt Kittner departed after leading Illinois to the 2001 Big Ten title, the Illini have offered scholarships to 30 high-school quarterbacks.
Thirty!
Juice Williams and Scheelhaase stand alone as four-year starters.
The only other UI statistical pass leaders from the prep ranks were Tim Brasic in 2005 and Jeff George Jr., who made five starts in 2017. Not to be overlooked, Wheaton veteran Reilly O’Toole stepped in for Lunt to spark late wins over Penn State and Northwestern in 2014.
But since 2015, when Champaign Centennial’s Jimmy Fitzgerald was the lone quarterback recruit, the Illini have brought in preps Eli Peters, Cam Thomas, M.J. Rivers, Robinson, Isaiah Williams, Deuce Spann and Samari Collier … while favoring transfers Lunt, AJ Bush and Peters.
Oh, if you lost count, that transfer word came up 16 times.
Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.
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