Illinois moving on from Chayce Crouch at quarterback

Thanks to a sluggish offensive start in Champaign, head coach Lovie Smith is looking to go another direction at quarterback.

During his press conference on Monday, Smith said there would be a change under center for Illinois moving forward. That likely means that Jeff George, Jr. will take over as the team’s starter, though Smith did say freshman Cam Thomas would have the opportunity to compete for the position.

Crouch started the first four games of the season for the Illini but struggled mightily. He completed just 53 percent of his passes with just one touchdown pass and four interceptions. Crouch proved to be somewhat effective as a runner, but not enough to keep Illinois’ offense moving with any consistency.

George has appeared in just one game this season, with the lone appearance coming in a blowout loss against USF. He completed 12-of-22 passes for 211 yards, and had a touchdown pass and threw two interceptions.

Last season, George played in four games in place of Wes Lunt and Crouch, both who suffered injuries. He finished the year with just a 40 percent completion rate.

Illinois travels to Iowa this weekend to battle the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB