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Lovie Smith not revealing anything on Illinois’ QB situation ahead of Northwestern game
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It appears we have a quarterback controversy in Champagne, and Lovie Smith isn’t interested in releasing who’s winning that battle currently.
It appears to be between Brandon Peters and Isaiah Williams. We won’t get to see how Illinois plans on using these quarterbacks until Saturday’s rivalry game against Northwestern.
#illini Lovie Smith asked about Isaiah Williams and said he won't get into the game plan.
"Show up on Saturday, and you'll see."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
#illini Lovie Smith asked if Brandon Peters will start: "We know what we're going to do at the quarterback position. Now, we're not going to talk about it now."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 7, 2020
Peters has played in three games in 2020. He started against Wisconsin and struggled as he went 8-for-19 for 87 yards and no touchdowns. His next outing against Nebraska was much more promising as the senior from Avon, Indiana, threw for 205 yards and a touchdown in the win.
Last week, Peters started against Iowa and found some success in the loss as he threw for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
Williams, meanwhile, got thrown in the fire as a freshman this season. He saw limited action against Wisconsin and Nebraska. He did get significant playing time in the win over Rutgers and threw for 104 yards with seven completions. He went 7-for-16 against Iowa for 83 yards and a touchdown.
If I had to guess, I think Peters will start and Williams will be mixed in, especially for run plays. However Smith decides to play it, he’ll need his quarterbacks’ best stuff in order to pull off the monumental upset against the Wildcats.