Senior Tommy Rittenhouse (16) has used his five years at Illinois State to develop into the dual-threat quarterback who emerged to lead the Redbirds into the FCS playoff and national rankings. (Photo by Barry Bottino, PrairieStatePigskin.com)
By Dan Verdun
NORMAL – Tommy Rittenhouse remembers the turning point in his collegiate career.
“Freshman year I wasn’t prioritizing the right things (for) my process. I broke my collarbone during practice. That flipped the switch for me on how I needed to approach each and every day,” the Illinois State senior quarterback told Prairie State Pigskin.
That awakening provided the catalyst for the Geneva native.
“It’s night and day from where I started and where I’m at,” Rittenhouse said. “I slowly got better and better each day.”
Competing in the transfer portal era, Rittenhouse never considered departing Illinois State despite the fact that the Redbird staff brought in FBS quarterbacks Zack Annexstad (Minnesota) and Jake Rubley (Kansas State) along the way.
“(I was) not willing to leave, not willing to transfer and take the easy way out,” Rittenhouse said. “I pushed myself to be patient with it and learn as much as I could over the years. That’s helped me to become what I’ve become.”
What Rittenhouse has become is a quarterback who led ISU into the FCS playoffs – something neither transfer QB accomplished.
Rittenhouse wasn’t one to hang his head and fall apart when adversity came his way. After all, this is a player who manages diabetes on a daily basis.
He welcomed the competition when Rubley – the son of former NFL quarterback T.J. Rubley – joined the ISU program last year.
“It’s always good to have competition. That’s the way I looked at it. Jake’s a great guy. He pushed me, and I pushed him. It made me better,” Rittenhouse said.
Yet, when ISU opened its season last August, head coach Brock Spack proclaimed his program would do something it had never done in his 16 years in Normal – rotate two quarterbacks.
“At the start of the season, it was kind of frustrating to me with the way things were going,” Rittenhouse said. “But, I feel when I got that opportunity to take over, I proved myself to the coaches and gained their trust.”
Rittenhouse quickly grabbed the starting job all by himself. By season’s end, the 5-foot-11 dual-threat quarterback led ISU to a 10-win season and its first FCS playoff berth in five years. Furthermore, the Redbirds advanced to the second round after outlasting Southeast Missouri for a road postseason victory.
Rittenhouse churned out a combined 3,320 yards of offense and accounted for 25 touchdowns – the best production by an ISU quarterback since 2014.
Longtime Illinois recruiting analyst “Edgy Tim” O’Halloran isn’t surprised by the success.
“Tommy is not the prototypical size quarterback. He’s a little bit shorter, but he’s a winner. That goes back to high school,” O’Halloran said of the player listed at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds. “He has that swagger. He has that confidence. I remember talking to him even when he was a sophomore in high school and you knew this kid was going to do something.”
Rittenhouse capped his prep career by earning Metro Suburban Conference Offensive MVP honors as a senior at St. Francis High School in Wheaton.
“He’s taken that attitude and that swagger and it’s carried over onto the field. He’s a gutsy, ballsy kind of kid,” O’Halloran said. “I love his attitude and approach. He’s able to make up for maybe not having the great height and frame, but his game is high level and that’s the most important thing.”
Asked if O’Halloran’s assessment is accurate, Rittenhouse laughed.
“Yeah, I do agree with that,” he said. “I don’t have the biggest (measureables) like height or weight or things like that. I carry a strong chip on my shoulder and try to play with swagger and have fun out there.”
Mental growth
Illinois State offensive coordinator Tony Petersen pointed out Rittenhouse’s improvements with the mental aspect of playing quarterback.
“He understands his game,” said the fifth-year ISU assistant. “He knows what he does well, and what he doesn’t totally excel at. Where are his assets? Where does he attack people? His decision making (has improved). I’ve always believed that the decisions quarterbacks make are the No. 1 thing they do.
“Every single time he goes out there he’s making better and better decisions with the football. If he does that and lets his abilities take over, we’ve got a good chance to be successful.”
Petersen further discussed Rittenhouse’s development in the Redbird program.
“It shows that he’s been in our system and with me for multiple years,” Petersen said. “Anytime you’ve got that, it helps. I’ve been in some situations where I’ve had some transfer quarterbacks that come and start that year and have done well, but had they been with me for two or three years, it’s going to be even better.
“Tommy has been here. We’ve spent a lot of time in that meeting room upstairs and a lot of time out on that practice field and that pays off at the end of the day.”
Right tackle Jake Pope praised his quarterback’s leadership and talent while guiding the team through the rugged Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule.
“He’s a well-seasoned, veteran quarterback who has seen everything in the Missouri Valley and in college football,” Pope said. “The way that he’s able to change it up and run or throw the ball and keep the defense guessing … it makes my job a little bit easier to be honest with you. When I mess up and things go wrong, Tommy somehow finds a way to make it look as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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