IOWA CITY, Iowa – The quarterback scrambled left and started looking for help.

He found a safe spot and started waving his buddies down the field. In an instant, the quarterback saw his man, wide open at the 10.

Zip. The ball left his hand and a moment later found the intended target. Ten yards later, the receiver reached the end zone.

"It felt good," the quarterback said. "I want to throw as many as possible."

But there weren't any more touchdowns for Illinois' Tim Lavery on Saturday. The fourth-quarter touchdown pass to George McDonald-Ashford was the one bright spot for the redshirt freshman in an otherwise not-so-great starting debut.

Lavery missed on 23 of 31 passes and was sacked seven times in a 38-10 loss to Iowa at Kinnick Stadium.

The Illinois coaches didn't expect a heroic performance from Lavery.

"Coach (Ron) Turner and Coach (Craig) Ver Steeg, they called me in their office and they said 'No one in that stadium is going to expect you to throw for five touchdowns. Just go out there and have fun,' " Lavery said.

Despite their words, Lavery admitted he thought about making a big splash in his opener. Maybe 300 yards. Maybe a few touchdowns.

"I came in to win this ballgame," Lavery said. "I didn't come in to play good. I came in to win. I didn't do that. I don't really think I gave our team a chance."

Sure, Lavery made mistakes. But he wasn't the only one.

"Our protection was not very good today," Turner said. "He didn't have much of a chance to do a whole lot."

Despite being chased all game by the Iowa defense, Turner said, Lavery showed poise. And he did enough to keep his starting job for next Saturday's game against Penn State.

"He knows we have confidence in him," Turner said.

Lavery is learning his teammates have confidence in him, too. After he was named starter on Monday, he heard encouragement from seniors Robert Holcombe and Matt Cushing.

"He's going to do some great things for this program," Holcombe said. "I honestly believe that he can be as good as they come."

When Holcombe and Cushing couldn't completely calm Lavery's pregame nerves, center Chris Brown took over.

"I would look at him once in awhile and give him a wink," Brown said. "I thought he performed admirably. He had a little quiet voice at first. But as the game went on, he started speaking more and inflecting his voice."

A quiet voice wasn't Lavery's only problem. At times, he held the ball too long. When the protection broke down, that meant a sack.

"He was a little jittery in the pocket," Turner said. "He's got to learn to get back, get rid of the ball and give guys opportunities to make some plays."

Each game is a new experience for the former Naperville Central star. Against Washington State, he played for the first time. On Saturday, he had his first completion (a 12-yarder to McDonald-Ashford) and first interception.

"I don't think I really reached a comfort level," Lavery said. "One thing I did realize was I wanted to keep getting out there."

Lavery even graded his performance, giving himself a solid C. On Monday, he'll find out what the UI coaches think.

"I could have made some plays, could have made some better throws," Lavery said.

He also made a blunder teammates and opponents won't let him forget. Early in the second quarter, Lavery accidentally lined up behind left guard Brent Taylor.

"Everyone's screaming, 'Lavery, get over. Get over,' " Lavery said.

The Iowa players noticed.

" 'Hey, nice job 13,' " Lavery heard from the Hawkeyes. "Pretty smart."