This spring, Tennessee football had to deal with the sudden loss of its starting quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, to the transfer portal. As a result, the Vols reportedly took a look at star quarterbacks across the country. With SEC players off the table by rule in that window, this primarily featured Big Ten and Big 12 signal callers. One of the popular names was Luke Altmyer of Illinois.
Ultimately, Tennessee landed on UCLA’s Joey Aguilar, with Iamaleava taking his spot on the Bruins’ depth chart. Altmyer stayed with the Illini and completed a strong season. Now, the Vols and Illinois are set to play in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30.
Ahead of the game, Altmyer met with the media and was asked about those rumors that Tennessee attempted to poach him away. He didn’t deny that it happened, but didn’t get into too much detail, either.
“Yeah, it’s an interesting thing, man. A lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, but the bottom line is I’m going to go play their best 11 and we’ll have our best 11 out there,” Altmyer said. “The world of college football is crazy, as we all know. A lot of things going on there for sure. But I don’t know, my focus is going to go be prepared for what they bring at us. It’s going to be the same. There’s not going to be a whole lot of thought within the snap of all the extracurricular stuff.
“But college football is crazy. Always thought you could have a reality TV show and it’d be the No. 1 hit on whatever it is. I love it. It’s always been my dream to play at this level with all the extracurricular stuff is cool, I guess. I don’t know. But I love to play. I’ll remember the game forever. I’ll remember my guys forever. Super excited about it.”
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Illinois head coach Bret Bielema was also asked if that would provide some extra juice in the bowl game, but he declined to get too deep into details.
“I can’t speak for Luke. Honestly, I’ve never spoken about that conversation in any way, shape or form,” Bielema said. “With Luke, one of the things that I’ve really appreciated about Luke’s demeanor, his personality is he’s the same guy every day. We get one more game with him. I think to have an SEC opponent for him is really pretty cool. I know that he has grown up obviously in the SEC world down there, started his career at Ole Miss. To go out here as one of the most decorated players in Illinois football history. More than that, he just stands for all these great things here at Illinois and to have that moment for him is probably the thing I’ll cherish more than anything.”
This season, Altmyer has completed 68.1% of passes for 2,811 yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions. This is his third year with Illinois after he spent two years with Ole Miss to begin his college career. He was a backup for the Rebels in 2021 as a true freshman when they made the trip to Knoxville under Lane Kiffin, as well.
The Music City Bowl will be played at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. Kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN.
