Indiana Football Injury Update: Jack Tuttle Out for Season, Josh Sales Questionable
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana football (3-6) hits the road for quite the challenge on Saturday against No. 2 Ohio State (9-0) at Noon ET.
Indiana coach Tom Allen spoke to the media on Monday and provided an update on a few injured Hoosiers. Quarterback Connor Bazelak is in line to return to his starting role on Saturday after missing the Penn State game with an undisclosed injury. After the game, Allen said Bazelak was "dinged up."
"Definitely healthier," Allen said of Bazelak on Thursday. "And back to more like what we expect him to be in terms of velocity of the ball and everything else with his ability to be healthy."
For Allen, if the 40-point underdog Hoosiers have any chance of hanging with the Buckeyes, Bazelak has to avoid mistakes that have hurt Indiana throughout the year. Bazelak has nine interceptions this season, one shy of Purdue's Aidan O'Connell and Nebraska's Casey Thompson for the conference lead, and Bazelak has the lowest completion percentage of any Big Ten quarterback at 54.9.
"To me it's decision making," Allen said, referring to Bazelak's necessary improvements. "Having expectations to protect the football. Don't put the team in a tough position by making bad decisions, and that's obviously a collective effort by the whole offense."
Tuttle started in place of Bazelak against Penn State, but left late in the first half with a shoulder injury after being sacked by a pair of Nittany Lion pass rushers. On Thursday, Allen said Tuttle will be out for the rest of the regular season, but will not require surgery. On Oct. 17, Tuttle expressed intentions to enter transfer portal.
Josh Sales started at right tackle against Penn State, but left during the game with an injury. Parker Hanna has started six games at right tackle for Indians this year and replaced Sales for the remainder of the game.
"Josh Sales is still not cleared yet to be able to say for sure for Saturday," Allen said on Thursday. "Just trying to get him squared away, so we'll know more tomorrow with him."
Sales, a redshirt freshman from Brownsburg, Ind., made his first career start against Rutgers on Oct. 22.
"[Sales] has definitely been playing better for us," Allen said on Monday. "And just need to continue to get him more reps and continue to develop him. So he's been doing a good job for us."
Indiana linebacker and team captain Cam Jones suffered a foot injury during Indiana's 35-21 loss at Nebraska on Oct. 1 and hasn't played since. Allen said he and Jones talked this week to weigh the decision of whether or not he will play this season, and that conversation will continue for the rest of the season. Jones is in his fifth and final year of his college eligibility and aspires to play in the NFL.
"He's not cleared to play yet, getting closer without question." Allen said. "Definitely as we get into these last few weeks here, we got to make sure what's best for him, and that's what I told him. So with the counsel of our doctors and himself and his family, we'll collectively come to a decision on that. There's no question. I care more about his personal health and his future. We all know that he has a very, very bright future at the next level, so we want to make sure that we always do everything we can to help with that."
Related stories on Indiana football:
- INDIANA QUARTERBACK SITUATION: Indiana coach Tom Allen gave an update on the health of Connor Bazelak and Jack Tuttle and the status of the quarterback room on Monday. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN ROUNDUP: Illinois' surprising home loss to Michigan State has opened up the Big Ten West race again, and unbeatens Ohio State and Michigan bounce back from slow starts to continue on their collision course. Here's our Week 10 Big Ten roundup, with summaries from all seven games, and the Week 11 schedule with gametimes and TV information. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA-PENN STATE GAME STORY: Indiana lost its sixth consecutive game and played three quarterbacks in a 45-14 defeat to Penn State. CLICK HERE
