Heads, Jon Beutjer. Tails, Dustin Ward.
After Saturday’s spring game at Memorial Stadium, Illinois coach Ron Turner appears no closer to choosing his starting quarterback than he was when drills began March 27.
“I really believe this team has confidence in both of them,” Turner said. “If they gave you an honest answer, I don’t think they’d be able to pick one right now. Let them compete. If we get to the point next fall where they’re dead even, we might have to alternate. Who knows?
“In a perfect world we’d have a guy right now and [competition] would be over. Whatever helps the team win, that’s what we’ll do.”
Beutjer, a junior transfer from Iowa, and Ward, a junior from Champaign who backed up Kurt Kittner the last two seasons, took turns directing the first-string Blue squad to a 40-3 rout of the second- and third-string Orange team. But it was tough to pick a clear winner in the quarterback derby.
Beutjer completed 12-of-18 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown, including a 3-for-5, 47-yard stint with the Orange. Beutjer also scored a touchdown on a 1-yard bootleg for the Blue. His longest throws went 39 yards to Greg Lewis, 36 yards to former Wheaton Warrenville South teammate Eric McGoey and 25 yards to Walter Young. He was sacked twice while playing for the Orange.
“I thought I played pretty well,” Beutjer said. “After sitting out last year, I really longed for this day. I missed some reads and some passes, but the receivers made me look good on a couple of them. I definitely underthrew some guys. I’ve got to think about that more when it’s windy.”
Ward completed 10-of-18 passes for 210 yards and was intercepted once. He scored one TD on a 1-yard run and threw passes of 39 and 38 yards to Aaron Moorehead, 36 yards to Brandon Lloyd, 35 yards to split-end-for-a-day Eugene Wilson and 26 yards to Lewis.
“I might have rushed the ball here and there,” Ward said. “That’s something I don’t want to do. But I also thought I threw the deep ball well. I haven’t seen anything to make me think there’s any change in the quarterback situation. I think we both improved this spring.”
McGoey caught six passes for 91 yards for the Orange. Moorehead caught four passes for 120 yards and linebacker Jerry Schumacher was everywhere for the Blue, making seven tackles, forcing a fumble, deflecting a pass and contributing two sacks.
Northwestern: In Evanston, redshirt freshman tailback Jeff Backes ran for 133 yards on nine carries and sophomore quarterback Tony Stauss completed 13-of-18 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown as Northwestern rolled up more than 500 yards in its second spring scrimmage.
Wisconsin: Wide receiver Lee Evans injured his left knee in the Badgers’ spring game. Coach Barry Alvarez said Evans had ligament damage and likely would need surgery. However, Alvarez was optimistic Evans would play this fall. The White team, which was spotted 28 points, defeated the Cardinal 35-28.
Iowa: Quarterback Brad Banks led the first-team Hawkeye Black shirts to a 38-3 victory against the reserve White shirts in Iowa’s spring game. Banks completed 18-of-21 passing for 337 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Purdue: Sophomore QB Kyle Orton completed 18-of-24 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Gold to a 27-14 victory over the Black in the Boilermakers’ spring game.
