CHAMPAIGN — Luke Altmyer has subtly been planting the seeds for this kind of performance for weeks.
Altmyer isn't brash or brazen in front of a camera or microphone, nor is he going to say much that's likely to be played as motivation inside of an opposing team's facility. He's more introspective and mild-mannered than that. But for weeks, Altmyer has been saying something in his own way. He's used terms like "explosive" and phrases like "really do some cool things" on offense.
It was clear that Altmyer believed in the offense.
There's been confidence emanating from this offense, especially as Altmyer enters his second season as a starting quarterback. In Thursday's 45-0 season-opening win over FCS opponent Eastern Illinois University, that confidence manifested itself on the field.
Altmyerwas 19-of-24 passing for 213 yards and four touchdowns while spreading the ball around to a suddenly deep wide receiver room. Pat Bryant led the way with five catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which was spectacularly placed by Altmyer and in a position for Bryant to make a highlight-worthy catch. Altmyer hit tight end Tanner Arkin for a five-yard score and lofted a touchdown to Malik Elzy, who beat single coverage down the sideline for a 34-yard score.
"I felt confident out there," Altmyer said. "I thought I saw everything well. It came off my hand pretty well. I feel like the route details and the receivers were on their Ps and Qs. Looking forward to just growing from Week 1 into Week 2. Excited to get back to work and display some other things too."
There's the obvious has-to-be-stated caveat that this came against an FCS opponent — which won eight games last season, no less — and this kind of performance is to be expected from a Pour Four team that's pushing for the postseason.
Still, it was flawless execution for an offense that has quietly turned into a top-third of the Big Ten passing offense.
"I always say for us that volume reflects confidence, and you can just hear Luke a lot more than you've ever heard him," Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said. "I think that's a great thing because he's confident and you have a quarterback who is throwing with confidence, playing with confidence and the people around him have confidence. That's something really good."
The first touchdown pass was an off-balance pass to Bryant in the end zone for a 15-yard score, which doesn't tell the entire story. The pass, in whatever way possible, had moxie. Altmyer rolled to his right after a play-action, turned his body, jumped and whistled the pass past a defensive lineman and a bit behind Bryant to avoid an EIU defender for a touchdown.
Altmyer threw the pass like a quarterback with a full-throated belief in what he can do on the field. The pass lined up with the confidence he's been talking about for months.
More than anything, that confidence is the biggest difference between this year and last. It was hard to quantify for those outside of the program during spring ball, summer workouts and training camp. In a game? It jumps off the screen.
"It's the confidence, bro," Bryant said of Altmyer. "Coming in as a transfer from a different program, you're trying to adapt and you've got a lot of weight on your shoulders as a quarterback. My main goal last year was trying to keep him uplifted. This year you can kind of tell he walks around with that swagger no matter how he's feeling. Usually, it would be some days we'd have to pick him up. Now, he's going around picking other people up saying, 'Let's go, let's go, let's go.' I feel like he's taking that quarterback role a lot more serious."
Altmyer hit Arkin for an easy five-yard score in which he could have easily lofted the pass to Bryant or Zakhari Franklin, both of whom were also wide open.
The final touchdown passes were perfectly placed and perfectly caught. Altmyer threw a 28-yard dime to Bryant and left the ball outside the reach of the EIU defender and allowed Bryant to go make a play on the ball.
"I have so much trust in him because the confidence he brings to our building every single day," Altmyer said of Bryant. "I don't think there's a defensive back or a corner that he would line up against that he would feel a certain type of way about. He knows he can go win against anybody. With me knowing that, I know he's going to be detailed in everything he does. Tonight he went up and got one, and that only helps my confidence even more with him. Like I said, he's a captain and rightfully so. He's going to be a big role in what we do moving forward. Really excited for him."
Added Bryant: "You can definitely see the huge difference from last year, just his confidence and putting the ball up in the air and giving us a shot to catch the ball. I'm very proud of Luke this game. He did what he did in practice and you can definitely see the growth."
Altmyer capped the first half with a 34-yard strike to Elzy, who beat press coverage and caught the ball in stride in the end zone. It was a career-high fourth touchdown pass and all came before the end of the first half.
All told, 11 different players caught a pass: seven receivers, two tight ends and two running backs. The passing offense — complemented by 244 rushing yards, for the record — looked like it was ready to build on last season's success in which it finished ranked fifth in the Big Ten in pass efficiency, the best ranking in the last nine years, fourth in yards per attempted, the best ranking during the same span and averaged the most yards per game over the program's last nine seasons.
Despite losing Casey Washington (6th round to the Atlanta Falcons) and Isaiah Williams (UDFA Detroit Lions) to the NFL, the Illini look like they have a deeper room than a year ago. Bryant and Franklin (2 catches for 28 yards) headline the room with Elzy,Kenari Wilcher, Collin Dixon, Alex Capka-Jones, Ashton Hollins, Hank Beatty and Mario Sanders in the mix.
And, of course, Altmyer.
"Explosive," Altmyer said of what the passing game could be. "With my new perspective, my new confidence that I feel like I have, guys returning like Pat, some vets like Zakhari who has done for so long and our depth in general, I think we have every right and every opportunity to go do some really cool things. It starts with me and upfront. I have the utmost confidence in all 11 of us out there."
Added Bielema: "I thought our wide receivers, that was a group I was probably the most anxious to see. A lot of you haven't seen 'em. …I was kind of excited to see this group come forward. Pat Bryant caught the ball. Zakhari is a very talented player. Great to see Malik get on the board there with a big catch. It's kind of fun to see some of those guys. Collin Dixon is probably one of the freshmen we're most excited to see get out there and play. I think Luke recognizes the talent around him and is excited to get out there."
The receiver room will likely tighten as the competition ramps up, but Illinois likes what it has as options and has been beating the drum of its depth at receiver all training camp. That showed up on Thursday night.
The real test is next week against No. 22 Kansas at Memorial Stadium. On Thursday, though, Altmyer and Illinois showed the confidence they've been talking about for months.
Illinois struck the exact right note against an opponent that allowed for it to establish confidence in the passing game. The quarterback, in a way, backed up his words, the running game kept the defense honest and the receivers flexed their depth muscles.
"I think I'm mentally and spiritually in a new place," Altmyer said. "My confidence is so set. I'm becoming so aware of the gifts and talents that God has given me, and ultimately while I'm out there I just want to thank him with my play and how hard I play and my leadership. My vision and my perspective is a little bit different this year, a lot different. Looking forward to keep playing with that same perspective moving forward."
