Ryan J. Hilinski (born October 24, 2000) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

. He previously played for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

, where he started 11 games in 2019.

Early years

Hilinski attended the

Lutheran High School of Orange County Lutheran High School of Orange County (commonly known as Orange Lutheran High School or OLu) is a private Lutheran high school in Orange, California, in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, founded in 1973. The school offers on-campus, online, and b ...

(commonly known as Orange Lutheran High School). As a senior, he played in 11 games and threw for 2,771 yards and 29 touchdowns. While in high school, he participated in the 2018

All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...

. Hilinski committed to South Carolina after receiving offers from 30 teams, including

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

College career

South Carolina

2019

Hilinski was named backup quarterback prior to the start of the 2019 season. His first game appearance came during the 2019

Belk Kickoff Game The Duke's Mayo Classic (known before 2020 as the Belk College Kickoff) is an annual college football game played on the opening weekend of the college football season in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. Gam ...

against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

after then starting quarterback

Jake Bentley Jacob Lane Bentley (born November 23, 1997) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the quarterbacks coach at the University of North Alabama. Bentley played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Utah Ut ...

was injured in the game. Hilinski was named starting quarterback later that day. He made his first starting appearance in the second game of the season, a 72–10 win over

Charleston Southern Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

. With Hilinski starting, the Gamecocks would set a school record 775 yards of offense, as well as a school record 493 rushing yards. Next week, Hilinski would start in a home game against the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

, a 47–23 loss, where he would complete more passes against

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

's Crimson Tide than any other freshman quarterback. Hilinski started 11 games his freshman year, completing 58.1 percent of his passes. He finished with 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

2020

In September 2020, Hilinski was named the backup quarterback behind Collin Hill. He has appeared in 2 games. On December 30, 2020, Hilinski entered the transfer portal.

Northwestern

2021

On January 19, 2021, Hilinski announced that he had transferred to Northwestern.

Statistics

Personal life

Hilinski was born to Mark and Kym Hilinski as the youngest of three children in the family. Ryan's oldest brother, Kelly, played as a quarterback for Notre Dame High School,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Riverside City College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

and

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

. His second older brother,

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

, who was also a quarterback at

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, died by suicide following his junior season.

References

External links

South Carolina bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilinski, Ryan 2000 births Living people American football quarterbacks Northwestern Wildcats football players Players of American football from California South Carolina Gamecocks football players Sportspeople from Orange, California