Three Questions For Indiana Football Entering Fall Camp
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana football is almost back, as coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers are just over one month away from their season opener against Ohio State on Sept. 2.
Fall camp starts this week, and plenty of questions surround the team team following a second consecutive losing season and the late-season injury to quarterback Dexter Williams II.
Here are three things we hope to find out by the end of fall camp before the Buckeyes arrive in Bloomington:
1. Tayven Jackson or Brendan Sorsby?
This is Blaze McKibbin erasure, I know.
In all seriousness, though, it's the question every IU football fan has on their mind — who will be the Week 1 starting quarterback: Jackson or Sorsby?
Allen said at Big Ten Media Days that he will not publicly reveal a starter prior to the Ohio State game. However, Allen did say on May 31 that the team is likely to make the decision internally following the second scrimmage of fall camp.
Jackson, the younger brother of Indiana basketball All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis, is the presumed favorite for many. Rated as a four-star by 247 Sports coming out of Center Grove High School, and having transferred into IU after a year as a backup for SEC contender Tennessee, it stands to reason he's the more inherently-talented quarterback among the pair.
247 Sports rated Sorsby as a three-star prospect coming out of Lake Dallas, Tx., and his scholarship offer from Indiana was the only one that he received from a Power 5 team.
One thing to be on the lookout for during August is which of the quarterbacks displays more dual-threat ability. In 2022, the Hoosiers' offense operated with more efficiency under offensive coordinator Walt Bell once it transitioned away from pocket-passer Connor Bazelak and in favor of more option concepts with Williams II.
Allen said at Big Ten Media Days that moving forward the team wants to have dual-threat ability at the position, but that ultimately what's most important is how they build around whoever they choose to start at QB.
Jackson threw for 4,813 yards and 47 touchdowns with 18 interceptions in 42 games at Center Grove from 2020-22, according to MaxPreps. He wasn't much of a runner, though, carrying the ball 46 times for 191 yards and six touchdowns across three seasons.
Sorsby, meanwhile, threw for 2,123 yards and 21 touchdowns with just 10 interceptions in 16 games recorded on MaxPreps. However, the Texas product had far more impressive high school rushing stats than Jackson, racking up 1,028 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground.
Whoever starts against Ohio State could ultimately be replaced by Williams II, who Allen said he expects to play, but for the foreseeable future, one of Jackson or Sorsby will earn the starting job for Week 1.
2. How Improved Does the O-Line Look?
It's no secret that the Indiana offensive line was a disaster in 2022.
The Hoosiers allowed 3.17 sacks per game (38 total) in 2022, ranking 115th out of 131 teams in FBS. Indiana fired offensive line coach Darren Hiller after a 31-10 loss to Michigan in Week 6, when Bazelak was sacked seven times.
Rod Carey assumed offensive line coaching duties for the remainder of the 2022 season, then Allen hired Bob Bostad for that role. Bostad has previously worked as the offensive line coach for Wisconsin, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tennessee Titans.
Indiana's biggest loss on the offensive line is starting left tackle Luke Haggard, but Mike Katic, Zach Carpenter, Kahlil Benson and Josh Sales return with starting experience from 2022. Carter Smith saw playing time late in the season, too.
Allen said Matt Bedford, a 2021 All-Big Ten honorable mention at right tackle, is now back to 100 percent after missing 11 games in 2021 with a torn ACL. Indiana also added two offensive linemen through the transfer portal, with Max Longman from UMass and Noah Bolticoff from TCU.
Matt Bedford returns to Indiana's offensive line in 2023 after missing nearly all of the 2022 season with an injury.
© Robert Scheer/IndyStar via Imagn Content Services, LLC
With a brand new starter at quarterback, it's vital that the offensive line is capable of supporting the new signal caller, whoever it may be. The level they played at in 2022 was unacceptable, so the hope is that a position coach with as impressive a resume as Bostad can change that quickly in 2023.
3. Has the Defensive Identity Changed with Matt Guerrieri?
Allen assumed defensive play-calling duties in 2022, but it did not go as well as he hoped. Perhaps it was too much for the head coach to manage alongside his usual game management duties, as the Hoosiers surrendered 33.9 points per game, ranking 120th out of 131 teams in the FBS.
For years, Allen's defense has relied on playing five or six defensive backs on the field at once, hoping to confuse opposing quarterbacks and leave Indiana prepared to defend any and all passes. Stock full of experience and some future NFL players in 2019 and 2020, that IU defense found great success while having plays called by then-defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, who's now the head coach at South Alabama.
Allen hired Matt Guerreri as a co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach in February and handed play-calling duties off to him. Guerreri worked at Ohio State as an analyst in 2022, and had been previously hired as the defensive coordinator at Tulsa under former Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson before Allen and the Hoosiers picked him up.
With loads of diverse experience at the college level, there's a good chance Guerreri's defense plays with some new looks in 2023.
“We’ve been a base 4-2-5 for a number of years,” Guerrieri said in February. “I played in the 3-4 defense. I’ve been in a 4-3 and a 3-3-5 and 4-2-5. From a philosophy standpoint, Coach Allen would say tackling, take-aways, and effort. Those are the three pillars of who we are. That’s not going to change from that stand point.”
Though Allen will always be connected to the Indiana defense's identity, the scheme and strategy could change under Guerreri. We'll have all of August to learn.
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