Luke Altmyer announces return to Illinois for 2025 season

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#11      
redwingillini11
Luke is on his way to surpassing Juice as my favorite Illini QB of my fandom, if he isn't already there. Just an amazing blessing for our program to have him lead the team for 3 years.
 
#12      
TheDrinkinLincoln
redwingillini11 said:
Luke is on his way to surpassing Juice as my favorite Illini QB of my fandom, if he isn't already there. Just an amazing blessing for our program to have him lead the team for 3 years.
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If Luke takes down OSU he will pass juice in my book. However that '07 team is still likely my favorite Illini team of all time. So much swag and talent. I'm in my 30s so the options are basically '01, '07, '22, and '24 for inspiring teams
 
#13      
Toews
redwingillini11 said:
Luke is on his way to surpassing Juice as my favorite Illini QB of my fandom, if he isn't already there. Just an amazing blessing for our program to have him lead the team for 3 years.
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Luke is probably not only my favorite Illini qb ever, he's probably my favorite Illini footballer ever. Juice I have complicated feelings with since I kind of became a student right after 2007 and tbh he just wasn't as good as Luke (my recollection of Juice includes the times he was, stupidly, boo'd by the fans and benched by Zook). We remember the good times but overlook the bad times which is just how it goes. But I do remember Juice being wildly inaccurate at times and throwing a lot of interceptions. Still a really fun player and on my all time list, but Altmyer has proven to be a better qb and, having talked with him a couple of times, seems like an awesome guy
 
#15      
SoCal Illini
Juice would do things that if they worked, he was brilliant but if they didn’t, he made a poor decision. Luke is def the better quarterback but I still like Juice. Gold standard this century is still kittner imo.

The type of ball luke throws is similar to kittner’s. Accurate and usually with touch.
 
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#16      
Illini2010-11
SoCal Illini said:
Juice would do things that if they worked, he was brilliant but if they didn’t, he made a poor decision. Luke is def the better quarterback but I still like Juice. Gold standard this century is still kittner imo.
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I agree, but Luke has one more year to become the gold standard at Illinois. If he takes another step forward like he did this year, I believe that Luke can approach the Kittner level.
 
#17      
Toews
SoCal Illini said:
Juice would do things that if they worked, he was brilliant but if they didn’t, he made a poor decision. Luke is def the better quarterback but I still like Juice. Gold standard this century is still kittner imo.
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Looking at the numbers since Kittner, I'd go:

Kittner (obviously a big gap)
Altmyer (gap after this as well imo)
Nate
Juice
Devito
Lunt
 
#18      
Fighter of the Nightman
I know this is sort of a fool's errand with how much can change between now and next August, but does anyone want to take a stab at a sort of range for our potential preseason ranking? Illini football has not entered a season in the preseason top 25 since 2008, and I think being ranked for our first game could actually go a long way in continuing to build hype with the more casual fan (and potential fan!).

We obviously ended this regular season ranked #21, and while we theoretically return a lot of production, we also (A) lose some key pieces (mainly Bryant at WR) and (B) will likely lose some pieces to the portal over the next couple months. However, we will hopefully also ADD some great pieces to the portal. So, any guesses on our floor/ceiling for a preseason ranking? It seems like now that Luke is in the fold, we could be a fringe top 25 team even just holding down the fort and returning everyone we have. I'd wager we are a key portal snag or two away from cracking the top 25 preseason, and I think a truly great portal campaign where we fill the holes in our roster with difference makers could have this squad sniffing the top 20 before playing a game. :oops:
 
#20      
Illini2010-11
Fighter of the Nightman said:
I know this is sort of a fool's errand with how much can change between now and next August, but does anyone want to take a stab at a sort of range for our potential preseason ranking? Illini football has not entered a season in the preseason top 25 since 2008, and I think being ranked for our first game could actually go a long way in continuing to build hype with the more casual fan (and potential fan!).

We obviously ended this regular season ranked #21, and while we theoretically return a lot of production, we also (A) lose some key pieces (mainly Bryant at WR) and (B) will likely lose some pieces to the portal over the next couple months. However, we will hopefully also ADD some great pieces to the portal. So, any guesses on our floor/ceiling for a preseason ranking? It seems like now that Luke is in the fold, we could be a fringe top 25 team even just holding down the fort and returning everyone we have. I'd wager we are a key portal snag or two away from cracking the top 25 preseason, and I think a truly great portal campaign where we fill the holes in our roster with difference makers could have this squad sniffing the top 20 before playing a game. :oops:
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I think the floor is a substantial number of votes in the AP poll and the ceiling is likely in the range of #20. If Illinois wins the bowl game to get to 10 wins, I would be highly surprised if the Illini are not ranked. Otherwise, I think a lot will depend on what happens in the portal and draft market. Either way, we are in a very good place with Coach B at the helm.
 
#21      
ptgrd23
Returning Illini starting QB with 2 years starting experience. Rare.

Jack Trudeau 3 year starter 1985
Jeff George 3 year starter (1 year at Purdue, went NFL after JR year) 1989
Kurt Kittner 3.5 year starter 2001
Nathan Scheelhaase 4 year starter 2010

Luke Altmeyer will be 3 year starter
 
#22      
Fighter of the Nightman
Illini2010-11 said:
I think the floor is a substantial number of votes in the AP poll and the ceiling is likely in the range of #20. If Illinois wins the bowl game to get to 10 wins, I would be highly surprised if the Illini are not ranked. Otherwise, I think a lot will depend on what happens in the portal and draft market. Either way, we are in a very good place with Coach B at the helm.
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Agreed! It will also be really interesting to see what we can draw for our opening game attendance this year. We have seen continued growth since BB started orchestrating this amazing revival from the dead, and with the home opener thankfully being on an actual Saturday this year, I am hoping we can get even larger crowd. For reference, here are some past home openers from the last 25 years or so and then the clear improvement under Coach Bret!

Illini Football Home Opener Attendance
** Note: From 2007-2010, Week 1 was in St. Louis vs. Missouri ... so home opener was after a loss each year, lol. :( **
--- Coming off of Rose Bowl appearance and with freshly renovated stadium ---
2008: 60,131 vs. Eastern Illinois (ILL ranked #24 after Week 1 loss to #6 Mizzou)
--- Disappointing 5-7 season in 2008 but a TON of talent returning ---
2009: 62,347 vs. Illinois State (ILL unranked after blowout loss in Week 1 to Mizzou)
2010: 52,217 vs. Southern Illinois
2011: 45,154 vs. Arkansas State
--- Ron Zook fired after epic 0-6 collapse to end the season ---

...............................

--- Tim Beckman fired amid scandal; Bill Cubit becomes interim head coach ---
2015: 36,693 vs. Kent State
--- Lovie Smith hired in what, at the time, is seen as a bit of a "splash hire" ---
2016: 48,644 vs. Murray State
2017: 42,505 vs. Ball State
2018: 31,898 vs. Kent State
2019: 30,654 vs. Akron
--- Lovie Smith is fired after 2020 season with no fans; Bielema hired before 2021 season ---

...............................

2021: 41,064 vs. Nebraska (Week Zero ... we drew 33,906 the next week vs. UTSA)
--- Illini show huge progress but finish 5-7 and barely miss a bowl ---
2022: 37,832 vs. Wyoming
--- Illini have breakout 8-4 season and make a New Year's Day bowl ---
2023: 48,898 vs. Toledo (highest opening attendance in over a decade)
--- Illini again show flashes but finish 5-7 and once again barely miss a bowl ---
2024: 43,849 vs. Eastern Illinois ... on a Thursday.

The next game in 2024 would be a 60,670 sellout vs. Kansas, followed by over 51,000 vs. Central Michigan at 11:00 am. So our Thursday night crowds vs. EIU are now blowing away Lovie's Saturday home opener crowds, and we are routinely drawing close to 55k for weekend games. That is phenomenal. It would be really awesome to get a 55k+ crowd every game, and I honestly think it's achievable the way we are heading.
 
#23      
GrayGhost77
Illini2010-11 said:
I think the floor is a substantial number of votes in the AP poll and the ceiling is likely in the range of #20. If Illinois wins the bowl game to get to 10 wins, I would be highly surprised if the Illini are not ranked. Otherwise, I think a lot will depend on what happens in the portal and draft market. Either way, we are in a very good place with Coach B at the helm.
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I generally agree with this, but lean more towards we're going to be ranked in the 20-25 range assuming we do even moderately well in the portal. Just land 3-4 big pieces at those positions of most need (WR, DL, OL) and with the returning production we'll have we'll be golden going into next season.
 
#24      
SoCal Illini
Wui
From the cheap seats said:
One Illini QB I used to really enjoy watching was Jason Verduzco. He was only about 5-foot-9, but was a two-time All-Big Ten pick (2nd team), HM All-American and still ranks 5th in passing yardage and TD passes. Still not sure how he did all of that at his size.
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he was before my time, but I’ve seen a couple old broadcasts on YouTube. Looks like he did it with a quick release/short throwing motion and a lot of roll outs. Apparently he was looked at as a qb that played smart as well (probably translated as knew his limitations). I guess he was a multi sport guy in hs, to include being a state wrestling champion. So there’s the whole being a good athlete while being tough thing. I think he called out tepper at one point saying they should throw more. Took cojones to do that back then if true.

Luke can do all that and more at qb. Not sure if he’d be a good wrestler though.
 
#25      
From the cheap seats
SoCal Illini said:
Wui

he was before my time, but I’ve seen a couple old broadcasts on YouTube. Looks like he did it with a quick release/short throwing motion and a lot of roll outs. Apparently he was looked at as a qb that played smart as well (probably translated as knew his limitations). I guess he was a multi sport guy in hs, to include being a state wrestling champion. So there’s the whole being a good athlete while being tough thing. I think he called out tepper at one point saying they should throw more. Took cojones to do that back then if true.

Luke can do all that and more at qb. Not sure if he’d be a good wrestler though.
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I love watching Luke play. He usually makes good decisions and, when needed, he'll take off and run. I really like that most of the time when he is scrambling due to pressure he still keeps his eyes up the field. There are times I wish he would get rid of the ball a bit sooner, even if it means throwing it away to live another down. But that's picking nits. I absolutely love how he represents the Illini in every respect.
 
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