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Photo by Mike Schumann / The Daily
Hoosier
Even before taking the field on Saturday, this
has already been a big week for Indiana football.
At the program’s weekly Monday press
conference, head coach Tom Allen announced that redshirt freshman Tayven
Jackson will be IU’s starting quarterback going forward. He and redshirt
freshman Brendan Sorsby had been battling for the job going back to spring
camp, and the competition extended through Indiana’s first two games.
So it will be Jackson leading the Hoosiers out
on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium this weekend against Louisville.
Allen, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks
coach Walt Bell, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri,
and several players talked about the quarterback decision and more on Monday.
Here are a few key updates and points that came out of the media session.
Guerrieri off to strong start
Indiana’s
defense has been impressive in the team’s first two games of the season. The
Hoosiers held Ohio State to 23 points, before shutting out
Indiana State’s offense (the Sycamores’ lone points came on a defensive
touchdown).
IU hasn’t been perfect, but for a defense
filled with new faces that had a lot of question marks entering the season,
it’s been a promising start to the year.
Co-defensive
coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri deserves credit for the
encouraging play by the IU defense. Tom Allen brought him in to the program
this offseason and immediately handed him defensive play-calling
responsibilities, and so far, so good.
“He’s a serious guy when it comes to game
preparation,” linebacker Aaron Casey said. “He wants to make sure everything’s
good and it starts with him on the back end, but he also delivers it to the
linebackers and D-line as well.”
Allen
emphasized he has a lot of trust in Guerrieri, noting his character and
coaching ability. He said Gurrieri checked the boxes for several things Allen was
looking to add to his defense in the offseason, in terms of scheme.
And,
Allen said, Guerrieri has done well with identifying various things during the
games and making necessary adjustments.
“It’s
been a real good fit so far. I think he’s great on game day. He’s a great
communicator. Does a good job — he’s up in the press box with several of our
coaches — but making adjustments,” Allen said. “He’s a really good teacher and
he has the ability to capture the whole room and make guys feel a part of it as
a staff, which is critical in that role.
I have high expectations for our defense, and
it all starts up front. But I
think he’s doing a good job of taking the skill sets of the guys we’ve added to
our team and trying to highlight those, and that’s what we’re going to
continue to do.”
