The potential matchup Rutgers football fans and even Artur Sitkowski himself possibly was looking forward to himself likely won't take place.
Sitkowski, a quarterback at Illinois, was injured during the sixth overtime period in Illinois' road 20-18, nine-overtime upset over then-No. 7 Penn State this past Saturday. Rutgers faces the Fighting Illini in Champaign on Oct. 30 at 12:00 p.m. EST on BTN.
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Sitkowski started against the Nittany Lions and completed just 8-of-19 passing attempts for 38 yards and an interception. He also had -8 yards rushing, though he almost won the game in overtime. But his pass fell incomplete as he had a rusher in his face. On the play, Sitkowski's full body looked like came down all on his hand/wrist/forearm, and he immediately grabbed the area.
He received medical attention shortly after and Brandon Peters came in and helped win the contest for Illinois.
"Art unfortunately goes down and to bring in BP off the bench," Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said. "It wasn't as clean as I'm sure he wanted, but he ended up making it happen in the long run."
Brandon Peters will now most likely get the start this weekend versus Rutgers.
"I think BP especially this week was probably a little bit difficult for him," Bielema said. "We made a decision early in the week to go with Art and kind of rep him through it. But true credit to BP and his ability to kind of just rise above. The one good thing is he's played a lot of football, and he's been through a lot of heartbreak and hopefully today was the start of something that could give him a couple of wins here in the last couple couple of games here as an Illini."
Sitkowski has played in five games in 2021. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder has 704 yards, six touchdowns, and two picks on 74 completions. Sitkowski left Rutgers and entered the transfer portal back in April.
"I had several conversations with Art. We're very, very close," Rutgers head coach Schiano said after Sitkowski announced he was heading to another program. "He just felt like he needed a different opportunity. We talked through it. I just hope that he finds what he's looking for because he's a great young man. And although we'll miss him, a I said earlier I'm excited about our quarterback room, and where we are."
More will be known about the Old Bridge, N.J. native's injury and the Fighting Illini's quarterback situation this week.
As of Sunday night, Illinois is two-point favorite over the Scarlet Knights, who are coming off of their bye week.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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