Explaining Illinois QB Katin Houser's Path Back to Michigan State
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One of the unique quirks of Michigan State's schedule this year is the three former starting quarterbacks making a return to East Lansing.
This Saturday's game against Illinois, set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, brings the second quarterback out of three. Noah Kim was the first to make his return to Spartan Stadium in Week 2 with Eastern Michigan. Katin Houser and the Fighting Illini are next up. Aidan Chiles and Northwestern are next week, too. Houser has had an interesting path back to his former school. Here's how he got here, and what MSU should expect while lining up against him.
Houser's Career Recap
Houser came to Michigan State as a pretty prized quarterback recruit. He finished as a four-star prospect who was ranked 215th overall and 14th among quarterbacks in the class of 2022 on the 247Sports Composite.
He sat and learned during his true freshman season with the program, like most true freshman quarterbacks do. Houser threw just two passes during the 2022 season, being behind Payton Thorne and Kim on the team's depth chart.
It became time for Houser to get some playing time during the 2023 season, though. Kim originally got the starting job that season, but it became clear pretty quickly once the schedule stiffened that a change was needed. Houser got his first start during the Spartans' sixth game of the season, and he kept starting the rest of the way.
Once the '23 campaign ended, though, and Jonathan Smith was hired as the program's new head coach, it was probably clear to Houser that he wouldn't remain as QB1. Smith was set to bring over Chiles with him, which led to Houser, Kim, and then-true freshman Sam Leavitt to all enter the transfer portal.
Houser wound up landing at East Carolina. His first season there was also certainly interesting. Houser initially lost a quarterback battle, and ECU wound up firing its head coach seven games into the season. Just like how Kim got benched in 2023, the quarterback who initially beat out Houser at East Carolina, Jake Garcia, also got benched.
ECU was in need of a spark, and Houser helped provide it. He started the Pirates' final seven games of the season, and East Carolina wound up finishing 5-1 after its head coach got fired. The capper was a Power Four victory over N.C. State in the Military Bowl.
East Carolina held onto the interim head coach, Blake Harrell, and Houser also stayed at ECU for the 2025 season. He was excellent last year, finishing with 3,300 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and six interceptions en route to an 8-4 regular-season record.
Houser used that big regular season as a springboard back to the Power Four ranks, entering the transfer portal. On3 had him ranked as the No. 16 quarterback in the transfer portal this past cycle, as well as the 135th player overall.
Houser's Year at Illinois
Houser has looked like a solid, Big Ten-level starter up to this point this year. He'll sometimes miss throws that he probably should make, but Houser has certainly grown a lot from his time at Michigan State and his earlier days at East Carolina. He's thrown for 1,246 yards (6th in the Big Ten), 11 touchdowns (5th in the Big Ten), and three interceptions through five games and five starts with the Fighting Illini.
As a team, Illinois has scored 30.6 points per game so far, which is 11th in the Big Ten and 68th in the nation. The Fighting Illini offense definitely had an off day last week against Purdue in what could definitely be considered a bad 24-17 loss, but Illinois has proven to itself that it can at least put up some points in its other two losses. Illinois scored 19 points at Ohio State two weeks ago, and it scored 27 during its Week 2 loss vs. Illinois.
"I didn't know a lot about him until I did my off-season study," Pat Fitzgerald said when asked about Houser on Monday. "Obviously, very impressed with what he's done so far. He can make a lot of throws. Again, another athletic quarterback. You look at last week [vs. Purdue]: he put together a couple of really spectacular drives with his arm and then extended plays with his legs.
"Explosive games against Southern [Illinois] and in the opener against UAB. Then they had a great lead against Duke, and it just fell by the wayside. He's played pretty dang clean in all those games."
Overall, Houser probably isn't the running threat that Nebraska's Anthony Colandrea or Wisconsin's Colton Joseph are, though his legs definitely should not be discounted entirely. Houser's arm talent might be a little bit better than Colandrea's and Joseph's, though.
Houser also has an elite wide receiver at his disposal in Collin Dixon. He's got 40 catches for 548 receiving yards and eight touchdowns this season already. Keeping him and Houser in check will be a big-time challenge for Michigan State's defense, which is still dealing with injuries in the secondary.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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