Illinois Player Spotlight: Wes Lunt
Two teams who maybe haven’t met some of their own expectations will face off Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champagne. The Penn State Nittany Lions (6-4, 2-4 B1G) travel to Illinois to take on the Fighting Illini (4-6, 1-5 B1G) in what could be a very even contest.
Penn State has earned itself a bowl bid with a win over Temple last week and is now looking for some momentum heading into the season finale against Michigan State. Meanwhile, the Illini are looking to return to their winning ways after losing five of their last six.
A key for Illinois in this game will be the play of their quarterback Wes Lunt, who returned last week for his first start since week six after breaking his leg. Lunt barely eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a blowout loss to Iowa and struggled to get the offense into rhythm.
What do you expect from a guy who hasn’t played in almost 2 months?
Even with missing all that time, the sophomore’s numbers are still impressive. He has thrown for over 1600 yards on 141 completions with 14 touchdowns and only three interceptions. If Illinois wants to stick with the Nittany lions, Lunt will need to keep his turnover total where it stands.
It has been a tough career so far for the quarterback, who seemed destined for a bright future coming out of high school. Lunt was a two-time state champion, leading Rochester High in Springfield to Class 4A state titles in 2010 and 2011.
He was an all-state selection by the Chicago Tribune and was the 2011 Champaign News-Gazette state Player of the Year after throwing for 3,650 yards, 31 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
However, he would miss several games early in the season due to injury, a common theme in his career. The high school star committed to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in January of 2012 and was on the field 18 months later.
Lunt started as a true freshman for the Cowboys making five starts; the first three games of the season and two later in the season. Lunt was the first true freshman quarterback to start a season-opener at Oklahoma State since 1950 and played well completing all 11 passes for 123 yards in less than a quarter of play in an 84-0 win over Savannah State. The following week he put up a 436-yard, four-TD performance at Arizona in his first road start.
However, his luck would stop there as he injured his knee in the opening quarter of a game against Louisiana-Lafayette. The freshman would come back, but only to get hurt again against Kansas State. It was the biggest game of the rookie’s career, facing the No. 2 ranked team in the country, and on the first possession of the third quarter he was injured again, never to return that season.
It was a huge transition for Wes as he transferred to Illinois and has now suffered another leg injury. The best he can do is finish this season strong and then begin working hard for next year. What better way to end the season than having a good game and take down the favored Nittany Lions on Saturday?
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Bradley Leeb)
Mike Carnuccio is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mikeyc48@gmail.com.
