Week two of fall camp has arrived for the Indiana football program but the biggest question entering this offseason has yet to be answered; Who will be the starting quarterback.
Redshirt freshmen Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby have been competing for the starting spot since spring practice but at this point, there has been no clear separation.
With the first fall scrimmage set for this weekend, it’ll be an opportunity that both players have to create that important separation.
“We have a big scrimmage coming up this weekend that’s going to be important. It’ll be the most amount of game-like reps in one setting that we’ve had yet,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen told reporters on Wednesday. “Really looking forward to seeing that and seeing how they perform in those situations.”
The Indiana football program has gone through six practices in fall camp. Up to this point, both Jackson and Sorsby have received equal reps with the ones.
“They’re in an equal rotation at this point,” Allen said. “Basically just rotating, going with the ones and the twos, and that will continue … One thing that’s nice about this time of year is that the twos and the ones are getting an equal number of reps, numerically. You don’t feel like you’re having to alter anything and they’re all in the same system.”
“(We’re) Much further past what you would consider the ABCs and now we’re on to the DEFs … Both of them have done a great job,” Indiana offensive coordinator Walt Bell added. “They’re both really physically talented. In these first six days, you had some really, really, really good moments and special moments. Some average moments. And, below average moments. Two young guys that have a lot of physical talent. They’re competing really well.”
Read: Indiana Football Position Preview: Quarterback
Even though both players are splitting reps, there is no hold up in potential game plan for the offense.
Because of the similarities in skillset between Jackson and Sorsby, the game plan will remain the same. That’s one positive that Tom Allen sees with the current situation and how it’s unfolding.
“I don’t know that it changes it a lot, we basically would’ve followed the same install … Once you decide who that person is going to be, you tailor it to the fine details to their strength and their skillset, but there are a lot of similarities between the two guys, in terms of their skillset strength. I think that’s a positive without question,” Allen said. “I think that the installation process is similar to what it would be if you already had a guy named.
“As we look at this, we’ve already had six practices and so number seven will be tomorrow, and it’ll be in full pads with a lot of game-like situations. From where we’re at as a whole offense and defense, our installation is pretty well complete at this point.”
Indiana has just a little over three weeks until the season-opener against Ohio State on September 2. Regardless of who takes the field that afternoon, it’ll be the first career start for either quarterback.
Indiana isn’t rushing into any decision.
“I think it will start to focus itself (after Saturday’s scrimmage). I don’t think that we’ll have a decision made, unless it’s evident,” Bell said. “The number one rule in decision-making is to use all time allotted. And, we have plenty of time between now and September 2. If it’s done after the first scrimmage or if it’s pretty evident, good. If it’s not, good. We have a second scrimmage. We have a lot of time. But that’s typically when you start to see a little bit of that separation.”
“You’ve got two guys now that are very similar. They’re both redshirts. Neither one of them really played much last year. I think they’re more at the same starting point,” Allen added. “At the end of the day, we’re going to pick the guy that we think is going to give us the best chance to win. That’s the bottom line. You have a long season, and you have a very challenging first one. You’re going to have someone going up against one of the teams in the nation right out of the gate.”
More must-reads: