Nathan Scheelhaase will now leave the University of Illinois football program as the all-time leader in total offense (10,634 yards, 8,568 passing, 2,006 rushing.
Entering his final game versus Northwestern, he 323 yards of total offense to reach the prolific mark. His team may have lost, but he achieved the mark by early in the fourth quarter. Like the man he now supplanted for the space in the record book, Juice Williams (10, 594 total offense, 8,037 passing, 2,557 rushing), he leaves behind a mixed legacy. Neither Nathan Scheelhaase nor Juice Williams will ever be remembered as “great”; just mediocre with some moments of “greatness.”
Both Scheelhaase and Williams were four year starters, and only achieved the total offense record due to their status as being football equivalents of “a volume scorer.” They were also both fortunate to play in pass-happy, spread-option systems, which by design typically inflate quarterback total offense numbers.
Scheelhaase inherited the job from Williams, and became the starter right from the get-go during his rookie campaign.
Juice earned the job in the midst of his freshman campaign. Both were dual threat quarterbacks who rewrote the Illini quarterback rushing record book, and thus put themselves in extremely advantageous position to become the eventual total offense leader.
They were also both durable enough to stay healthy most of the four seasons that they played; another advantage.
Nathan Scheelhaase on breaking the total offense yardage record today:
“It’s one of those things where, obviously after a loss it’s hard to really take in what that means. I think it’s one of those things that I’ll definitely look back on and just be proud and thankful for all the people that made it happen.”
“With all those yards, as a quarterback you’re not doing it all yourself. You’re surrounded by a bunch of guys helping you out. To go into the record book at a school like Illinois, with a record like that, is amazing.”
“It’s an amazing feat and something I can’t wrap my head around yet.”
It is kind of amazing, especially when you realize that the same school also produced a NFL Draft #1 overall pick in 1990 with Jeff George (ninth on the school list in career total offense with 4,767) Illinois also sent two other quarterbacks to the NFL, like George, who went on to have long veteran careers in Jack Trudeau (4th, 8,640 yards of total offense) and Tony Eason (7th, with 7,002).
Scheelhaase was the only active player in the nation this season to achieve over 8,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards. Along with Juice Williams, they are the only two players in Big Ten history to reach those career benchmarks.
He moved into seventh all time in Big Ten history in total offense, and ninth in FBS among all those active in 2013.
His legacy can be found in his first two seasons. He is one of just two QBs in Big Ten history to lead his team to a bowl win in his first two seasons.
Granted they weren’t big name, or even mid tier bowls, but the current bowl system still affords such opportunities as these. It was an accomplishment nonetheless, as Illini football had not win back to back bowl games, prior to 2010-11, since all the way back in 1991-92.
Like Williams, there is no NFL career in any capacity for awaiting for Scheelhaase, thus, like his predecessor, this is the peak of on-field gridiron glory for them. Unfortunately, it came with more stats than winning. Scheelhaase had an atrocious junior year, and on even more atrocious team, in 2012.
His ugly stats from ’12 were revolutionized by the arrival of new offensive coordinator Bill Cubit. Scheelhaase closed his career on a high note in 2013, breaking the school record for single season completion percentage (66.74% 287-430) and passing efficiency (140.7).
Unfortunately, the defense in ’13 surrendered more yards than any in school history and overall, the team came nowhere close to bowl contention.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio.
Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS Catch him Tuesdays talking Illini and Northwestern for KOZN 1620 The Zone, Fridays talking Chicago Bears for WAOR 95.7 The Fan