 Altmyer with Ole Miss in 2021 | |
| Illinois Fighting Illini–No. 9 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class |  Junior |
| Major | Sport and Recreation Administration |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | October 22, 2002 Starkville, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | |
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Starkville (Starkville, Mississippi) |
Luke Altmyer (born October 22, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Illinois Fighting Illini. He previously played at Ole Miss.
Altmyer's hometown is Starkville, Mississippi and he attended Starkville High School. In Altmyer's high school career he completed 454 of his 659 passes for 5,523 yards and 63 touchdowns to ten interceptions. Altmyer also rushed for eight yards and six touchdowns. [1] Altmyer committed to play college football at Ole Miss over schools such as Alabama, Florida State, and LSU. [2] [3]
In the 2022 Sugar Bowl, Altmyer came in the game after starting quarterback Matt Corral went down with an injury. Altmyer went 15 for 28 for 174 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, as the Rebels lost to Baylor 21–7. [4] [5] Altmyer finished the 2021 season going 20 for 37 on his passes for 192 yards and a touchdown to two interceptions. [6]
Sophomore Jaxson Dart was named the starting quarterback to open the 2022 season against Troy with Altmyer serving as the backup. [7] Altmyer would enter the game during the fourth quarter with a 28–10 lead over the Trojans, completing one pass for 13 yards. [8] Altmyer would make his first career start in the Rebels' Week 2 matchup against Central Arkansas. [9] During the game, Altmyer completed 6-of-13 passes for 90 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, while also rushing for a touchdown. However, he exited the game early in the second quarter with an injury. [10] [11] After Altmyer's injury, Dart would take over the starting job for the rest of the season. Altmyer finished the season completing 8-of-17 passes for 125 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while also adding a rushing touchdown. [12] After the season, Altmyer announced his decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal. [13]
On December 29, 2022, Altmyer transferred to Illinois to continue his college career. [14] [15] Altmyer was announced as the Illinois starting quarterback for their Week 1 game against Toldeo. [16] [17] In his Illinois debut, Altmyer completed 18-of-26 passes for 206 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while also having nine carries for 69 yards rushing in a 30–28 win. Against Florida Atlantic, Altmyer threw for 303 yards and a touchdown while rushing for touchdown in the 23–17 win. Late in fourth quarter against Minnesota, Altmyer was forced to leave due to sustaining an injury. Before leaving he completed 24 passes for 212 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Senior quarterback John Paddock started the final three games of the season for Illinois. In nine games, Altmyer completed 175-of-270 passes for 1,883, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He also had 94 rushing attempts for 282 yards and three touchdowns.
Against No. 22 Nebraska, Altmyer completed 21-of-27 passing attempts for 236 yards and four touchdowns to lead Illinois to a 31–24 overtime win. He became the first Illinois quarterback to throw four touchdowns on the road against a top-25 team since Kurt Kittner did it against Michigan in 1999. He also lead the Illini to their second 4–0 start since 1951. For his efforts he was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (shared with Kaleb Johnson of Iowa). [18] With the 4-0 start, Altmyer was the only player in the country to throw double digit touchdowns without throwing a single interception. Altmyer led the Illini to a 9-3 record, with 4 game-winning drives, the most out of any team in the country. Altmyer ended the regular season with 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, along with 4 rushing touchdowns. On December 14th, while the Illinois Fighting Illini were hosting the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers in basketball, Altmyer announced his intention to return to the Illini for the 2025 season. The No. 20 Illini played the No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2024 Citrus Bowl, where Altmyer threw for 174 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a 21-17 victory to give the Illini their first 10 win season since 2001 and first bowl game win since 2011.
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Ole Miss Rebels | |||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | 0−0 | 20 | 37 | 54.1 | 192 | 5.2 | 1 | 2 | 95.8 | 21 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 4 | 1 | 1−0 | 8 | 17 | 47.1 | 125 | 7.4 | 2 | 1 | 135.9 | 4 | 3 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | |||||||||||||||
| 2023 | 9 | 9 | 4−5 | 175 | 270 | 64.8 | 1,883 | 7.0 | 13 | 10 | 131.9 | 94 | 282 | 3.0 | 3 |
| 2024 | 13 | 13 | 10−3 | 211 | 347 | 60.8 | 2,717 | 7.8 | 22 | 6 | 144.0 | 99 | 217 | 2.2 | 4 |
| Career | 30 | 22 | 15−8 | 414 | 671 | 61.7 | 4,917 | 7.3 | 38 | 19 | 136.3 | 218 | 502 | 2.3 | 8 |
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