Opening Line: Louisville Favored Against Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana approaches a game that could go a long way in determining the success or failure of the 2023 season.
Coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers make a short trip up north on Saturday for a Noon ET matchup against coach Jeff Brohm and the Louisville Cardinals.
Louisville is favored by 9.5 points and the over/under is set at 50.5 points, according to the SI Sportsbook on Saturday morning.
Indiana rotated redshirt freshmen quarterbacks Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby during a 23-3 loss to Ohio State in Week 1 and again during Friday's 41-7 win over Indiana State. But after two weeks of evaluating their play, and knowing the importance of Saturday's game, Allen named Tayven Jackson the starting quarterback on Monday, with no plans to alternate mid-game.
Jackson will make his second-career start near his home town in building he's quite familiar with. Playing quarterback for Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind., Jackson reached three consecutive state championship games and won back-to-back titles during his junior and senior seasons, each of which were played at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Indiana held practice at Lucas Oil Stadium during fall camp, which Jackson believes helped the receivers become comfortable playing in the bright lights of a dome, as opposed to an outdoor stadium.
"It's very exciting. It's a nice stadium," Jackson said. "It's nothing new. We're just going to try to go out there and win a football game."
Jackson and the Hoosiers aim to hand Louisville its first loss of the season following a 2-0 start.
The Cardinals completed a 15-point comeback to claim a 39-34 win over Georgia Tech on Sept. 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. Quarterback Jack Plummer threw for 247 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, while the Louisville running game generated 227 yards and 6.7 yards per carry. Louisville converted just 1-of-11 third-down attempts in this game, but managed to outscore Georgia Tech 26-6 in the second half.
Most recently, Louisville dismantled Murray State 56-0 in its first home game of the season. Plummer threw two interceptions, but again, the Cardinals' run game couldn't be stopped. On 44 attempts, Louisville ran for 344 yards and six touchdowns, good for 7.8 yards per carry.
Allen is used to game planning against Brohm's typically strong passing attack when he was at Purdue, but Louisville's success in the run game so far adds to Indiana's challenge.
"They're running the football a lot better in these first two games than maybe they have in the past places [Brohm] has been," Allen said. "Which puts more pressure on your defense, without question."
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