Indiana Moving Forward With Sorsby at Quarterback as Williams' Return Looms
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Quarterback uncertainty has headlined the 2023 Indiana football season, but coach Tom Allen could be building some stability at the position for the final stretch.
Brendan Sorsby played the entire game as Indiana suffered a 31-14 loss at home against Rutgers on Saturday. And while he didn't set the world on fire, Allen affirmed Monday that Sorsby is currently the No. 1 quarterback.
"Felt like after watching the film and meeting as a staff, feel good about moving forward with him," Allen said.
Sorsby completed 15-of-31 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. The bulk of his production and flashes of promise came on the first possession, a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. He hit his first four targets and built a 6-for-7 start, culminating with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr., which required Sorsby to dodge multiple pass rushers.
Coaches have lauded Sorsby's physical running style since he arrived on campus before the 2022 season, and that showed up in its most prominent way so far on Saturday.
He ran the ball 11 times for 49 yards, taking a couple big hits and scoring his first rushing touchdown in the process. Running back Trent Howland averaged six yards per carry on Saturday, and Sorsby used that to his advantage. As the Rutgers defense committed to a fake to Howland up the middle, Sorsby had a wide open running lane for a four-yard touchdown.
Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Brendan Sorsby (15) runs the ball in for a touchdown in front of Rutgers Scarlet Knights defensive back Shaquan Loyal (6) during the second quarter at Memorial Stadium.
Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Allen described Sorsby's performance as tough and gritty while recognizing he has room to grow, especially as a passer. Moving forward, Allen wants Sorsby to speed up his reads and get the ball out quicker on certain occasions.
Offensive coordinator Rod Carey thought Sorsby "played his rear end off," but pointed out on numerous occasions during Monday's press conference that no one on offense played well enough to win.
At the same time, Carey feels Sorsby's struggles stemmed from small, fundamental and technique issues that led to high throws. Rutgers was his first chance to play an entire game this year, and Carey thinks Sorsby's increased experience will help clean up those misses as he understands his body's reaction in live-game settings.
"There isn't a ton of blatantly big things," Carey said. "It's some of the young quarterback issues that we have to work through because none of us are young anymore. We're in game eight now."
Heading into Indiana's trip to Penn State on Saturday at Noon ET, all indications point to Sorsby remaining the starting quarterback. But Allen and staff have shown no hesitation in benching a quarterback for poor performance, like they did with Jackson in previous weeks.
There also seems to be a realistic chance that Dexter Williams II plays this season after tearing his ACL in the 2022 season finale against Purdue. Before the season, Allen pointed to the midway point of the year as a potential return date for Williams, who has progressed in his rehab week after week, according to Allen.
Williams has been available in an emergency situation the last two games.
"Obviously Dexter continues to be a guy that's in the periphery as far as his development and his physical recovery from where he's at," Allen said Saturday. "Just want to continue to help give our team the best chance we have to have success on game day."
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- INDIANA-RUTGERS GAME STORY: Indiana fell to 2-5 on the season with a 31-14 loss to Rutgers Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Indiana made special teams mistakes, had below-average quarterback play and couldn't stop the run. CLICK HERE
