Indiana Keeping Starting Quarterback a Secret Before Season Opener
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Indiana fans, and more importantly, Ohio State, will have to wait until Sept. 2 to officially know the Hoosiers' starting quarterback.
Indiana coach Tom Allen reiterated Thursday at Big Ten Media Days that the team will enter fall camp with a quarterback competition between redshirt freshmen Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby, but he will not publicly announce the starter.
"I don't ever want to give our first opponent anything extra that would be beneficial," Allen said. "Obviously the players will know and the procedure will be handled that way, but yeah, to me, I'm not going to give anything out before I need to."
Allen's messaging throughout the offseason regarding this competition has been consistent. The players and coaches will know, but he wants to keep Ohio State in the dark as much as possible.
There's not much for Ohio State's defensive game planners to go off of either, as Jackson and Sorsby boast a combined four games and 10 pass attempts at the college level. Due to Jackson and Sorsby's lack of experience, it could be difficult for Ohio State to know exactly what to expect from either quarterback, but whether that benefits Indiana against a perennial national title contender on game day is to be seen.
On May 31, Allen said the competition will likely be decided after the team's second scrimmage of fall camp.
"I just think that gives us a full gamut," Allen said. "We've got two guys with Brendan and Tayven, both young, but talented."
Allen approached the 2022 season in the same manner, with Connor Bazelak and Jack Tuttle competed for the starting job. Bazelak and Tuttle are both gone now – off to Bowling Green and Michigan, respectively – leaving behind an Indiana quarterback room that consists of Jackson, Sorsby, a currently-injured Dexter Williams II, true freshman Broc Lowry and walk-on Blaze McKibbin.
Allen said Thursday that he expects Williams to play at some point in 2023, but he will not be ready for the season opener after undergoing knee surgery this offseason.
Jackson, the younger brother of Indiana basketball's star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, transferred from Tennessee to Indiana in January. Learning behind veteran quarterbacks Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton at Tennessee, Jackson appeared in three games as a true freshman against Ball State, Akron and UT-Martin. He completed 3-of-4 passes for 37 yards, while gaining 10 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown.
Winning two state titles with Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind., Jackson was a four-star recruit, ranked No. 198 in the nation. At 6-foot-3, he has a strong arm and can make plays with is feet.
Sorsby was a true freshman on the 4-8 Hoosiers in 2022, slotted behind Bazelak and Tuttle on the depth chart. He appeared in one game last year, getting his number called ahead of Williams on Nov. 5 against Penn State. In that game, Sorsby completed 3-of-6 passes for eight yards and an interception, but he didn't see the field in the final three games.
Indiana had success late in the 2022 season with Williams under center, largely due to his dual-threat ability that helped the Hoosiers defeat Michigan State. Allen wants those qualities in his quarterback this year and in future seasons, but his main focus is highlighting Jackson or Sorsby's strengths.
"I'm a defensive coach by trade," Allen said. "And I just know what gives us trouble – anytime a quarterback can extend plays. It's usually those when it's not scripted, when they can be able to create, elongate, put pressure on your secondary, be able to beat you with his legs. You have to account for him in your pressure, whether you've got a spy, or whatever you need to do."
"Moving forward, that's what we want to have at that position, to be able to extend those plays. I think it's a variable for sure. But at the same time once you pick who that individual is, you've got to make sure you're building everything around them so they can be at their best and be able to be comfortable. Obviously whoever is going to be is going to be a younger guy that's going to have to grow up really fast. But I think that ability to extend plays, I think, we've seen that at the NFL level how valuable that can be. You keep that guy healthy, it's obviously an extra weapon that's very effective."
As Indiana approaches the start of fall camp in August, Allen will not only be analyzing the quarterbacks' play on the field, but also their leadership qualities. Allen said the opinion of the other 10 players on the field is massive when picking a quarterback. Coaches aren't allowed at certain summer workouts, per NCAA rules, so Allen has had individual meetings with members of Indiana's leadership council to hear the perspective of their teammates.
He's working with Jackson and Sorsby to grow as leaders, too.
"We've had a lot of one-on-one conversations about this very thing – 'I'm only a second-year college player, how do I insert myself in this situation?' And so we talk it through and explain that this is what this should look like, and how do you get to that point? At the core of that is relationship building," Allen said. "When you build a relationship with your teammates, you earn the right to speak in their life, and if you don't and you try to speak in their life in a critical moment or in a heated workout or whatever, it doesn't usually end well."
"So building those [relationships] has been a big part of this offseason. I think they both have tremendous ability in those areas. We did some leadership training with our whole team the last couple days, and I thought those two guys rose throughout. We did two days of it, and I thought they grew throughout that whole process. So to me, it's intentional for us, building a team, building bonds, building our guys in those positions."
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