The biggest question coming into the season for the Indiana football program was who would be the starting quarterback and what the offense would look like. On Saturday, there was no clear answer to the questions surrounding the quarterback room.
Brendan Sosrby got the start, but both he and Tayven Jackson saw action throughout the game. And, neither showed a lot of firepower in the 23-3 loss to No. 3 Ohio State.
Sorsby finished 8-of-16 for 58 yards while Jackson was 1-of-5 for 24 yards and had three carries for 11 yards. The expectation is both quarterbacks will play once again next week, with Jackson getting the start.
“Our decision was to play ’em both in the first two games. So Sorsby started this week. Tayven starts next week. The guys know that. They knew that ahead of time,” Indiana football head coach Tom Allen said postgame. ” … We just said whoever starts week one, the other is going to start week two. That’s how we set it up. So it gives us a chance to be able to, after the first two games, be able to evaluate where we’re at, where they’re at and what we need to be able to do moving forward.”
After next week against Indiana State, Allen said he will then look into making a more firm decision on a starter moving into the rest of the season.
“Yes, I would like to be able to have that, yes,” Allen said. “But I think it’s really just fair to have them both play against the same opponent. You just play one against one team, one against another team, it really doesn’t give you a pretty clear picture at all. Because obviously they’re two different opponents. Our first two opponents are very different.”
In total, most of Indiana’s passing attack was short of the first-down sticks, with very few deep ball attempts. Coming into this season, getting more explosive plays down the field was a point of emphasis. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to fruition on Saturday.
Most of Saturday’s offense revolved around running quarterback options, a part of the system that both Allen an offensive coordinator Walt Bell wanted to expand this season.
“I would say it was probably a little more conservative than we, even in that game, would like for it to be. But there’s certain reasons for that, without question. But, yeah, we got to be able to do that. That’s going to grow, for sure. We really felt like, coming in, you’re going to have to take about, you know, seven or eight shots. And a couple of those we had and then got pressured,” Allen added. “But at the same time, yeah, there’s no question we got talented receivers on the perimeter and got to do a better job of getting those guys the football. But I think you’re just going to see it continue to grow each week, there’s no question about it. Both these guys can throw the football. But I just think, once again, some of the field position didn’t help us, several times. And when you’re backed up like that that’s when you make big mistakes and get costly situations. You don’t want to throw picks in those spots.
“So once again, two young guys, probably a little more conservative than we will be moving forward — definitely more conservative than we will be moving forward, but at the same time just got to continue to get better.”
In total, seven different players caught a pass for Indiana but only Cam Camper had more than one reception. He led Indiana with three catches for 35 yards
Indiana will look for more clarity around the quarterback room next week.
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