Subscribe
Follow Us
The 2025 Illinois football team has high expectations for this season after finishing the 2024 season well. One of the biggest reasons the Fighting Illini have such high expectations this year is that Luke Altmyer is back under center after having a stellar year in 2024. Head coach Brett Bielema has a loaded team, and they are in line for a big year, especially in the Big Ten.
On Friday, college sports reporter Colleen Kane for the Chicago Tribune reported that Illinois had named its six team captains for the 2025 season. One of the three captains named on offense was Luke Altmyer, which shows how highly respected he is in the locker room.
Kane posted on X: “Illinois football named six team captains for 2025: Luke Altmyer, Tanner Arkin, Gabe Jacas, Josh Kreutz, Dylan Rosiek, and Miles Scott. The team voted on them.”
It is also worth noting that Tanner Arkin and Josh Kreutz are key pieces on this offense as seniors. Then, Gabe Jacas, Dylan Rosiek, and Miles Scott are all big seniors on the defense.
Altymer had 2,717 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, and six interceptions with a 60.8% completion percentage. It was a big step forward after Altmyer was unimpressive in his first season with the Fighting Illini in 2023. He has emerged as a great starting quarterback since he transferred from Ole Miss, which was a big move due to his being a Mississippi native.
He has been named to the preseason watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, the Maxwell Award, and the Manning Award. It was a big deal that he decided to stay in Illinois because, as a Mississippi native, he had a few choices to return closer to home in the south. He explained why by praising the Big Ten.
“The conference that I'm in, I think, is the best conference in football,” he began. “I'm surrounded by a lot of good people, a lot of good players, and I have a lot of momentum to go do everything possible, imaginable, out there in college football.
“So many good things are happening at the University of Illinois right now, and I enjoy it here. I don't need all the outside attention to be happy because the right things surround me.”
The 2025 Illinois football team returns 16 starters from the 2024 team, one of the country's best. The Big Ten is loaded at the top with teams like Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon, but Illinois wants to crash that party. Thanks to Brett Bielema and Luke Altmyer, as one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten, that's a reality now, and they need to go out and execute.
