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Illinois coach Bret Bielema provides injury update on QB Brandon Peters
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Illinois quarterback Brandon Peters suffered a shoulder injury during the Illini’s 30-22 win over Nebraska in Week 0. He exited the game in the first half and didn’t return.
According to coach Bret Bielema, he’s already progressing more quickly than anticipated. Bielema gave that update during his weekly radio show.
Bret Bielema said Brandon Peters is coming along quicker than people thought and he threw the ball around yesterday.
Calvin Hart is "still a work in progress." #illini
— Joey Wagner (@mrwagner25) September 2, 2021
If Peters does have to miss this week’s game against UTSA, the Illini should still be in good hands. Rutgers transfer Artur Sitkowski relieved Peters against the Huskers and was dominant.
Sitkowski completed 12-of-15 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Peters was 3-of-4 for 35 yards before exiting with the injury.
Either way, it appears Illinois’ passing offense is much-improved under Bielema. Peters — and a variety of other fill-ins — struggled at times last season. Illinois finished dead last in the Big Ten in 2020 with 152.9 passing yards per game.
While Illinois had just 159 passing yards vs. the Huskers, the efficiency was the primary difference. The Illini completed 78.9 percent of their passes on Saturday compared to just 46.9 percent last season.
Illinois and UTSA will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.