Aug. 20, 2002

RANTOUL, Ill. - Illinois head coach Ron Turner announced Tuesday that Champaign, Ill., native Dustin Ward will be the team's starting quarterback for the Aug. 31 season-opener vs. Missouri in St. Louis.

The announcement came after both Ward and Wheaton, Ill., native Jon Beutjer battled throughout the spring and summer for the position.

"Three years ago the decision was more clear cut, but this one was much closer," Turner said when comparing this year's battle to 1999, the last time Illinois entered camp without an incumbent starter at quarterback . "Ideally I would have liked to of had this decided at the end of the spring or at the start of training camp, but it didn't work out that way. Both these guys competed hard and did a great job from a preparation standpoint. Both of them had great summers."

While this will be Ward's first go-around as the regular starter, he has seen action in his career as both a backup to All-Big Ten signal caller Kurt Kittner and as a starter for the 2000 contest at Northwestern (when Kittner was sidelined by injury). In his career, Ward has played in 10 games completing 37-of-70 passes (52.8%) for 421 yards and five touchdowns. In his lone start at Northwestern, Ward was 20-of-37 for 246 yards and two scores.

"I've worked a long time for this, so I am obviously excited about this opportunity," Ward said. "Ever since I got here I wanted to be the starter. This is my fourth year now and it has been a long road. It's a good feeling."

Ward will be the first Champaign, Ill., native to start at quarterback for the Illini since John Easterbrook in 1958. A product of Champaign High School, Easterbrook completed 34 passes for 656 yards. Ward graduated from Champaign Centennial High School in 1999.

"Dustin's done a great job for us," Turner said. "He's come a long way since he got here. He played behind Kurt (Kittner) for a couple of seasons and that helped him to learn a lot."