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

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

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

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 one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

. 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 Fight ...

, 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 ...

(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 Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

College career

South Carolina

2019

Hilinski was named backup quarterback prior to the start of the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. 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, North Carolina, Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium, home of t ...

against

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

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 head coach at Nation Ford High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Bentley played college football for the South Carolina Gamecock ...

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. 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 college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

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

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

'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

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

Statistics

Professional career

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 in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

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, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

. His second older brother, Tyler, who was also a quarterback at

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, died by suicide following his junior season.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio

Northwestern Wildcats bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilinski, Ryan 2000 births Living people American football quarterbacks Northwestern Wildcats football players South Carolina Gamecocks football players Lutheran High School of Orange County alumni Players of American football from Orange, California