Illinois names Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer starting QB

Illinoishas named Luke Altmyer as its starting quarterback to open the 2023 season.

Altmyer transferred to Illinois in January from Ole Miss, where he spent two seasons. ESPN named the player from Starkville, Mississippi, the No. 118 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class.

He had been competing with John Paddock, a transfer who started last season at Ball State, and redshirt freshman Donovan Leary, but Altmyer was seen as a clear favorite to win the job.

"I've been very impressed by not just Luke's play on the football field but how he's handled things," Illinois coach Bret Bielema said Monday. "To walk into this environment, to have a lot of people from the outside world think he's going to be that guy, to stand in front of his team and give cadence as a quarterback to speak in the huddle but also on the sideline and in the locker room, he's really done a nice job of balancing all that."

Altmyer had 317 passing yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions at Ole Miss, where he competed for the starting job in 2022. The Rebels ultimately went with USCtransfer Jaxson Dart. Altmyer started a game in 2022, but he played mostly as a reserve during his time at Ole Miss.

Illinois, which is coming off of its first winning season since 2011, opens the fall Sept. 2 against Toledoat home, then will visitKansason Sept. 8.