Indiana Football Practices at Lucas Oil Stadium, Nearing Quarterback Decision

The Indiana football team held Friday's practice at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. Coach Tom Allen thinks the practice will help the Hoosiers become acclimated with the stadium, where they will match up against Louisville on Sept. 16.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers drove up to Lucas Oil Stadium Friday morning with an eye on the upcoming season.

Allen holds a 1-0 record in the building after defeating Ball State 34-24 in the 2019 season opener, and he looks to stay perfect when Indiana plays Louisville at Noon ET on Sept. 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.

Allen said Indiana won't have the chance to practice at Lucas Oil Stadium during the week leading up to the Louisville game, so he wanted to find a way to get acclimated with the building during fall camp. He also felt it was a nice change of pace for the Hoosiers, who will partake in some team-building activities after practice. 

"It's very, very important to continue to build the connectivity on our team," Allen said before Friday's practice. ''Just being here, a lot of guys haven't played here before. [They can] get familiar with the setting, how the lights feel. We had to make sure the setting is going to be just how it is on game day because the specialists will be catching kicks and punts and kicking in this venue, as well. So just a lot of things that go into getting familiar with the facility, and I think it's a very important thing for us."

Indiana football held Friday's practice at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. The Hoosiers are scheduled to play Louisville at Noon ET on Sept. 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium

Indiana did not practice in full pads Friday, but Allen said the goal was to have a sharp, focused practice. He said the team would practice situational football and end-of-game drills, with special teams and clock management being points of emphasis.

He's also adding a wrinkle to practice to keep everyone on their toes.

"All the stuff is scripted, and then there’s a few things I’m going to add that the coaches don’t know to be able to see how we react to those situations," Allen said. "To me, it’s really a lot about being crisp and clean and working on game-like situations."

With just over two weeks until the season opener against Ohio State, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 2, Allen said Indiana is close to naming a starting quarterback. All along, Allen has pointed to the team's second scrimmage of fall camp, which will take place Saturday, as a potential time to make the decision. Of course, he will only announce the starter internally, so it won't be known publicly whether Indiana chooses Tayven Jackson or Brendan Sorsby as the starter until kickoff against the Buckeyes.

"We have to make a decision at least internally, for sure, to be able to know who that guy's going to be to get the reps with the one's to kind of get that timing for two weeks," Allen said. "I think we'll make a decision after this weekend."

Both quarterbacks enter the year as redshirt freshmen and have a combined 10 pass attempts at the college level. They've experienced their fair share of ups and downs since the competition began in the spring, but Allen has been intrigued by their recent strides.

"I thought they played really well yesterday," Allen said Friday. "Both of them just completed a lot of passes. To me, it's about continued execution. I thought they were so much more decisive yesterday in decision making, just going through the progressions, getting the ball out when it needs to get out, on time, right where it needs to be. I think the receivers have been catching the ball really, really well, and I'm excited about that receiver room and excited about the quarterback room. Obviously got to figure out who the guy is going to be, but I've really seen, these last few days, I've really seen a lot of growth from that quarterback room. It's great. It's encouraging."

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