CHAMPAIGN – Illinois' starting quarterback Saturday against Indiana will wear No. 9 ... or No. 13 ... or No. 11.

Illinois' starting quarterback Saturday will be a sophomore ... or a freshman ... or a junior.

Illinois' starting quarterback Saturday will answer to Kirk (Johnson) ... or Tim (Lavery) ... or Mark (Hoekstra).

At this point, that's about as specific as we can get. It's difficult to guess when the person making the decision hasn't made up his mind.

First-year coach Ron Turner promised a decision by Thursday.

How about a guess?

"I have no idea," said Lavery, who started three games before being replaced by Johnson against Purdue.

Lavery hopes he gets the call. In four games, the redshirt freshman completed 36 percent of his passes with four interceptions.

"I'm dying to get back in there," Lavery said. "The first thing I asked Coach after he told me Kirk was starting was if and when am I going to get in there again."

Lavery thought he was going in against Purdue. After a Johnson fumble, Turner told Lavery to start warming up.

But fearing a bad performance would hurt Lavery's confidence, Turner held him out against the Boilermakers.

"It's confusing at times," Lavery said.

And at times, Lavery becomes frustrated.

"I think about it every day: Maybe I should quit football and concentrate on baseball," Lavery said. "But I think I'm going to stick with it. Once Coach told me I got the start against Iowa, I thought I could just keep getting better and keep my job throughout the years. Now, it's kind of a toss-up in the air. If I'm not getting any better, what's the use of keep coming out? I'm still willing to give it a try.

"This is the first time I've got benched. I'm not just going to run away from it."

Hoekstra isn't running away, either. The former starter, now the third-string quarterback, said he didn't consider transferring.

"I'd never do that," Hoekstra said. "I made a commitment to this university. I give every effort that I can to my teammates.

"I was disappointed when it happened, but you have to get over that real quick."

In three starts, Hoekstra completed 49 percent of his passes for 539 yards and two touchdowns.

Turnovers cost Hoekstra his job. He was intercepted five times and had a crucial fumble in Illinois' loss to Washington State.

If he gets a chance to play again, Hoekstra said he won't change a thing, other than the mistakes.

"It seems to me we produced a lot more the first three games," Hoekstra said.

In Hoekstra's three starts, the Illini score 43 points. They have 26 points in the last four.

"If we could get in a groove with one of the guys, that would give us a little confidence, that would help us out," Illinois tight end Matt Cushing said. "I don't think we've been in a groove with any of them."