Tayven Jackson Named Indiana Starting Quarterback

Coach Tom Allen named redshirt freshman Tayven Jackson the starting quarterback for the Indiana football team on Monday. Jackson beat fellow redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby for the job and will start against Louisville on Saturday.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana football coach Tom Allen named Tayven Jackson as the team's starting quarterback on Monday. 

After facing off against Brendan Sorsby in an open quarterback competition during spring practices, fall camp and the first two weeks of the season, Jackson will enter Week 3's matchup against the Louisville Cardinals as the unquestioned QB1 in Bloomington. 

Instead of making the decision prior to the season's start, Allen maintained that he wanted to see both Jackson and Sorsby in real-game reps. 

"We needed to go to full game evaluation," Allen said. "There's a field presence you have during games. There's nothing like the ebbs and flows of a game."

Indiana quarterback Tayven Jackson received a 93.2 pass grade from Pro Football Focus (@PFF_College), which ranks 4th out of 209 graded quarterbacks in Week 2.

Jackson completed 18-of-21 passes for 236 yards against Indiana State. #iufb https://t.co/x8T0f9pzB6

— Jack Ankony (@ankony_jack) September 10, 2023

Jackson is the man many IU fans wanted to start all along. Perhaps the quarterback's practice reps weren't as impressive as his Friday night game film was, as Allen said Monday that the younger brother of Trayce Jackson-Davis is a better in-game performer than he is a practice player. 

"Some guys are like that, when the lights are on and the pressure's on," Allen said.

Jackson separated himself from Sorsby on Friday, completing 18-of-21 passing attempts for 236 yards. Additionally, the Tennessee transfer ran in a 10-yard touchdown for his first career score as a Hoosier. 

After both quarterbacks struggled in the season opener against Ohio State, Jackson emerged as the leader after his performance against Indiana State. Both Allen and offensive coordinator Walt Bell said as much on Monday, pointing out that their film review following the game proved that Jackson was the man for the job. 

There will obviously be differences on Saturday, as no longer will Hoosier fans be subject to an unpredictable quarterback rotation. Barring the unforeseen, every snap under center should be taken by Jackson.

However, Indiana offense's plan of action should remain the same. The team's play caller Bell said that both Jackson and Sorsby are similar enough in play style and identity that the team wasn't changing much in how they approached their game plans during the first two weeks.

"They have such similar skillsets, [and] that was a luxury that we had," Bell said. "We really didn't have to build two specific game plans."

Jackson will make his second start as the Indiana starting quarterback and his first as the full-time starter on Saturday at noon ET against the Louisville Cardinals. The game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Related Stories on Indiana Football:

• STOCK UP, STOCK DOWN FROM INDIANA STATE WIN: In a new series for HoosiersNow.com, we broke down whose stock is on the rise following the 41-7 win, and whose stock took a hit after the Week 2 game. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 2 BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS: Michigan's grip on the top spot in the conference has only tightened, while Wisconsin went flying out of the top five following a loss to Washington State. CLICK HERE
• GAME STORY: Coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers defeated Indiana State 41-7 on Friday at Memorial Stadium. It was a dominant win for IU, led by quarterback Tayven Jackson and an unforgiving defense, though it was clear all night that the visiting team was overmatched. CLICK HERE