RENO, Nev. -- The Nevada football team announced today the signing of former Oklahoma State quarterback Shane Illingworth as a transfer. He will be a sophomore with three years left to play.
Illingworth joins the Nevada football team after spending two seasons as a backup for Spencer Sanders with Oklahoma State prior to transferring following the spring semester. He played eight games and went 3-0 as a starter during his time in Stillwater. He finished with 385 yards on 28 of 50 pass attempts with three touchdowns and a completion rate of 56%.
"Excited to have a quality athlete with Division I experience competing for our quarterback position," Head Coach Ken Wilson said. "Shane is a fierce competitor with great intelligence who I have known for a long time! Competition at all positions will make our team better. His presence will certainly help all of the players competing to be our starting QB."
The Norco High School product makes his way back out west after earning Academic All-Big 12 honors during the 2021 season. He completed a career-high 22 passes on 40 attempts for a career-high 315 yards against Missouri State last season. Illingworth connected on a 66-yard touchdown pass at Kansas in 2020 to mark the longest pass of his career so far.
Appeared in three games during the 2021 season to preserve his redshirt year. Helped lead the Cowboys to a season-opening 23-16 win against Missouri State where he set the above career highs. Appeared in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 5 Notre Dame.
During his freshman season in 2020, played a very important role in helping the Cowboys to a win over Tulsa in the season opener, which doubled as his first career game. With OSU trailing the Golden Hurricane, 7-3, late in the third quarter and largely ineffective on offense to that point, Illingworth entered and immediately completed a 29-yard pass to All-American Tylan Wallace. Four plays later, he connected again with Wallace on a 36-yard completion to set up a three-yard touchdown run by Chuba Hubbard that gave the Cowboys a lead they would not surrender.
Illingworth led three OSU drives in that game and all three produced points - Hubbard's touchdown and two Alex Hale field goals. For his efforts against Tulsa, he was recognized as Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. The following week against West Virginia, Illingworth completed 15 of 21 passes for 139 yards to help the Cowboys to a victory in his first career start. The best statistical performance of the season came against Kansas in week three when he completed 17 of 23 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Was called back into action when Spencer Sanders was injured in the first quarter of the Bedlam game in Norman and completed five of 21 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.
High School
Played for Chuck Chastain at Norco … Started 11 games as a senior, completing 150 passes on 230 attempts for 3,081 yards and 40 touchdowns … Had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 40 to 2 … On the ground, he carried the ball 64 times for 168 yards and four touchdowns … Threw for 479 yards and seven touchdowns on 20-of-29 completions in the season opener against Williams Field … Completed 19 passes on 29 attempts for 310 yards in a win against Rancho Cucamonga … Went for 328 yards on 24-of-38 passes and three touchdowns in a loss against Rancho Verde … Passed for 567 yards on 24-of-30 completions and seven touchdowns in a win against Vista Murrieta, including a season-long 91-yard pass … Registered seven games with three or more touchdowns … Had four games with more than 300 yards passing … Rushed for two touchdowns on six carries in the final game of the season against Chaminade … As a junior in 2018, he registered 167 completions on 264 attempts for 2,739 yards and 20 touchdowns in 12 games … In three years of varsity football, he totaled 6,433 passing yards, 184 rushing yards, 79 passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns … Rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN … 247Sports ranks him as the No. 5 pro-style quarterback, the No. 17 player out of California and the No. 158 player overall ... Chose Oklahoma State over Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Boston College, Colorado, Louisville, Missouri, Oregon State, Washington State and others.
