From ‘The Game’ to “Just Another Game”: Brandon Peters Gets His First Start vs. Ohio State
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- There was a time for Brandon Peters Ohio State was ‘The Game’ and now, while wearing the orange and blue of Illinois, he said Monday it’s “just another game”.
For three years of his life, when Peters saw Ohio State on the schedule, it was the premier matchup of the conference and a national spotlight. Now Peters says Monday that his first career start against the No. 3 Buckeyes (4-0) this Saturday (11 a.m., FS1) won’t represent any more motivation for a person who happens to hold a bachelor’s degree in general studies from the school lovingly referred to around the OSU campus as “the school up north”.
“For me, it’s just another game, just another game,” Peters said with a smile. “Being at Illinois now, obviously it’s not a huge rivalry but it is a huge game for Illinois this week. We have to treat it that way.”
Peters was a backup quarterback in Michigan’s losses to Ohio State in 2017 and 2018 and statistically only holds a tightly-fitted 8-yard completion that was about six inches short of a touchdown strike during the 62-38 loss in 2018. Peters replaced Michigan starter Shea Patterson for two plays in that 2018 game after Patterson suffered a knee injury following a sack. The completion and a handoff resulting in a 1-yard touchdown dive by Ben Mason are the only two plays Peters has seen from behind center against Ohio State.
Brandon Peters' only action against Ohio State in two years at Michigan was a 8-yard completion and a handoff for a 1-yard touchdown run in 2018 in Columbus.
Peters, who holds a 7-5 record when he starts and finishes a game since arriving at Illinois (2-3) is coming off a performance he called Monday “one of the top two performances” while a member of Lovie Smith’s Illini program.
In a 41-23 victory at Nebraska, Peters finished 18 of 25 for 205 yards and completed a pass to seven different receivers showing he didn’t look rusty or inefficient after spending 21 days in coronavirus quarantine protocols.
“We finally got all our guys back healthy and this was the team that we’d been seeing (in practices and training camp),” Illinois offensive coordinator Rod Smith said Monday. “Did we expect this? I’m going to tell you, yeah. I’ve been harping to (the media) that we’ll one day take it from practice to the games.”
After the victory against Nebraska where Peters played all but eight snaps of the Illini’s first win in Lincoln, Neb., since Red Grange was in the backfield in 1924, Smith ended all talk of a quarterback controversy for the rest of the 2020 campaign.
“I can tell you right now Brandon is our starting quarterback and our starting quarterback is important to our success,” Lovie Smith said Monday. “Throughout this (start of the 2020 season) we found out our quarterback position was deeper than what had been proven and I like the future of it going forward. But Brandon did play well Saturday and gave us everything we expected out of him in that win.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Brandon Peters was a perfect 3 of 3 on deep passes for 95 yards and a touchdown last weekend against Nebraska.
Pro Football Focus
For the entire week of preparation, Peters will also be staring at a game film of an Indiana program posting 35 points, 491 yards through the air against an Ohio State defense that is rated as the worst in the Big Ten Conference against the passing.
For the entire week of preparation, Peters will also be staring at a game film of an Indiana program posting 35 points, 491 yards through the air against an Ohio State defense that is rated as the worst in the Big Ten Conference against the passing.
“They’re football players as well just like anybody else,” Peters said. “They have to make plays. They have to execute and Ohio State is a great team, great program with great players and have been all those things for a while. That doesn’t mean if we execute on offense and defense, then we can have success too.”
In his only career start against a Top 10 program, Peters made the most of his completions last year in the 24-23 victory over then-No. 6 Wisconsin on Oct. 19, 2019. Peters’ nine completions totaled 174 yards and two touchdown passes to complete one of the biggest upsets in Big Ten history.