In this era of college football, bowl games have become more and more of an exhibition for young players on your roster. That’s especially the case at the quarterback position. Have a senior signal caller out of eligibility and a young one ready to take the reins behind him? That usually means an opt-out to make way for the upcoming quarterback.
In the case of Illinois for its clash against Tennessee in the Music City Bowl, that doesn’t appear to be the plan, though. On Sunday, Illini head coach Bret Bielema didn’t outright say his senior quarterback Luke Altmyer would play, but he definitely insinuated it.
He mentioned that he got a message from Altmyer’s mom saying that there was going to be a strong turnout from his home state of Mississippi.
“Just got the text from Betsy Altmyer when I was walking in here, she said she thought half of Mississippi was going to be there in Nashville,” Bielema said. “I was just glad that one of them (quarterback Luke Altmyer) was going to be there from Mississippi. Gives our guys a chance to have a quality opponent there down the stretch. I don’t know anything about who is playing or who is not playing. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of conversations throughout the week.”
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Tennessee is likely plenty familiar with Altmyer already. When Nico Iamaleava departed for UCLA in the spring, there were ties between the Vols and quarterbacks across the country as they looked for a replacement. One of the popular names was Altmyer.
Bielema was asked if that would provide some extra juice in the bowl game, but he declined to get too deep into details. However, he once again insinuated that Altmyer would be on the field in Nashville and not watching from the sideline.
“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.
