CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer was named as a mid-season addition to the Maxwell Award watch list, the Maxwell Football Club announced Thursday afternoon. The Maxwell Award, now in its 88th year, has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937.
Altmyer, a junior from Starkville, Mississippi, has led the No. 22-ranked Fighting Illini to a 5-1 start this season, highlighted by a pair of top-25 victories vs. then-No. 19 Kansas in Week 2 at Memorial Stadium and on the road at then-No. 22 Nebraska in Week 4.
Most recently, Altmyer led the Illini to a thrilling 50-49 win over rival Purdue to reclaim The Cannon, engineering a game-tying field goal drive in the final minute before throwing the game-winning touchdown pass in the first overtime period.
Altmyer, who is also on the Manning Award watch list and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Top-25, has impressed in his second year as the Illini's starting signal-caller. He has thrown for 1,426 yards on 67.7% passing with 14 touchdowns and just one interception to post a quarterback rating of 167.7, on pace for the program record.
Altmyer and the Fighting Illini host #24 Michigan on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. CT matchup on CBS. The sold-out game is the Memorial Stadium 100th Anniversary Rededication Game, 100 years and one day after Illinois' historic Memorial Stadium Dedication Game on Oct. 18, 1924.
Luke Altmyer Season Notes
Altmyer, a junior from Starkville, Mississippi, has led the No. 22-ranked Fighting Illini to a 5-1 start this season, highlighted by a pair of top-25 victories vs. then-No. 19 Kansas in Week 2 at Memorial Stadium and on the road at then-No. 22 Nebraska in Week 4.
Most recently, Altmyer led the Illini to a thrilling 50-49 win over rival Purdue to reclaim The Cannon, engineering a game-tying field goal drive in the final minute before throwing the game-winning touchdown pass in the first overtime period.
Altmyer, who is also on the Manning Award watch list and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Top-25, has impressed in his second year as the Illini's starting signal-caller. He has thrown for 1,426 yards on 67.7% passing with 14 touchdowns and just one interception to post a quarterback rating of 167.7, on pace for the program record.
Altmyer and the Fighting Illini host #24 Michigan on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. CT matchup on CBS. The sold-out game is the Memorial Stadium 100th Anniversary Rededication Game, 100 years and one day after Illinois' historic Memorial Stadium Dedication Game on Oct. 18, 1924.
Luke Altmyer Season Notes
- Enters Week 8 as PFF's No. 18 QB in the nation and No. 3 in the Big Ten (min. 198 dropbacks)
- Ranks 14th in the nation in passing efficiency at 167.7, on pace for the best mark in program history
- Ranks 13th in the nation in passing touchdowns (14)
- Threw for a career-high 379 yards vs. Purdue, his second-career 300-yard game (10/12/24)
- Has two games on the season with four touchdown passes, at #22 Nebraska (9/20/24) and vs. Eastern Illinois (8/29/24)
- Became the first Illinois quarterback with four TD passes on the road against an AP Top 25 team since 1999 in the Illini win at Nebraska (9/20/24)
- The first Illinois quarterback with multiple games of four passing touchdowns since 2013
- The only quarterback in the nation with four touchdown passes in a top-25 road win this season
- Has led two game-winning drives in the final minute or overtime this season – at Nebraska (9/20/24) and vs. Purdue (10/12/24) – and now has four such comeback victories in his Illini career
- One of only two quarterbacks in the nation with 14+ TD passes and only one INT (Alonza Barnett III, JMU)
- Only the fifth quarterback in Illinois history to have led the team to a 5-1 start with at least two AP Top 25, joining Fred Major (1950), Thomas O'Connell (1951), Jack Trudeau (1983), and Jason Verduzco (1990).
