VIDEO: Illinois QB Brandon Peters - Week 6 Preview - vs. No. 3 Ohio State
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois senior quarterback Brandon Peters spoke to local and statewide media in his weekly media conference on Nov. 23.
The topics included his team's preparations for the Nov. 23 game vs. No. 3 Ohio State.
Peters returned to Champaign as a second-year starter, something the Illini program hasn't had under fifth-year head coach Lovie Smith.
Following his team's 41-23 win at Nebraska Saturday, the return of Peters jump-started an offense that was averaging just 17 points per game as Illinois (2-3) led 28-10 after two quarters, their most first-half points against a conference opponent in 10 years, and was up 41-17 early in the fourth quarter.
Peters would finish 18 of 25 for 205 yards, completed a pass to seven different receivers and had a 28-yard touchdown pass to Josh Imatrobhebhe.
Despite missing two regular season games last year due to concussion symptoms, Peters finished the 2019 season completing 152 of 275 passes (55.2 percent) for 1,884 yards, 18 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.
“He’s definitely put some work in (before he arrived back to campus in June) to help showcase his athleticism...I think that right there show a lot to this football team how important it is to our quarterback to get it done (in 2020) and hopefully it’ll continue to spread throughout the remainder of our guys as well," Illinois football strength and conditioning coach Lou Hernandez said in August about Peters.
From 2006 to ’16, Isiah “Juice” Williams, Nathan Scheelhaase and Wes Lunt occupied the quarterback position at Illinois and produced quality numbers. In the program’s first bowl game since 2014 and without any of his top four receiver targets, Peters completed 22 of 37 passes for 274 yards with a touchdown and one interception in a 35-20 loss to California, one of the best defenses in the Pacific 12 Conference.