Throughout the spring, Illinois has provided an enlightening and somewhat groundbreaking blow-by-blow view of its ongoing quarterback derby between senior Riley O'Toole, sophomore Wes Lunt and sophomore Aaron Bailey. While most coaches keep their quarterback battles out of plain sight, Illinois turned theirs into an online reality series.
This fourth and final installment focuses solely on the Illini's Orange and Blue game, held last Saturday. The quarterbacks were split apart, with O'Toole and Lunt on the Blue squad and Bailey on the Orange. O'Toole had the best day of the three, but it's hard to know what offensive coordinator Bill Cubit thinks considering he is only heard talking to Bailey on the Orange sideline.
Head coach Tim Beckman maintains the derby is still wide open, which is a great opportunity for me to plead that Illinois continues this series into the fall. Each quarterback has an endearing personality, and it would be absolutely fascinating theater to see the series continue when the stakes are raised four months from now.