Indiana football still looking for answers at quarterback as QB rotation continued against Michigan

The quarterback controversy was thought to have been finished after Indiana football head coach Tom Allen said earlier this week that Tayven Jackson was the starting quarterback moving forward. That lasted just two drives in Saturday’s 52-7 blowout loss to No. 2 Michigan.

After a quick three-and-out on the starting possession, Jackson led the Indiana offense down the field in what appeared to be the most efficient drive of the season. Jackson was 6-of-8 for 52 yards. Five of the six completions were to different receivers.

Then, at the Michigan 11-yard line Jackson under threw Dequece Carter in the end zone, resulting in an interception.

When Indiana took the field again, it wasn’t Jackson under center. It was now Brendan Sorsby.

“Yeah that was the plan. We were going to play Tayven the first two series then play Brendan the third and fourth series and that’s what we did,” Allen said postgame. “Then just kinda see who had the hot hand and see who was playing best.”

Sorsby would go on to play the next five drives. Four drives resulted in 11 plays for one yard. The one positive drive was a result of a 44-yard touchdown throw by Donaven McCulley.

Jackson returned at the 8:28 mark of the third quarter. He finished 7-of-13 for 52 yards and two interceptions and one lost fumble.

Sorsby was 6-of-14 for 44 yards and one lost fumble.

“It’s really hard to get yourself in a routine and other guys in a routine. I’m not sure why they were flip-flopping but it’s hard to get in a routine when you’re doing that,” McCulley said. He would add that sometimes the team didn’t know who the quarterback would be for that drive until they were in the huddle.

Indiana’s yardage by quarter was: 141, 25, 15, 51.

Indiana’s yards per play per quarter were: 6.4, 2.8, 0.9, 3.6.

The Indiana football offense finished with 232 yards and an average of just 3.7 yards per play.

“We gotta find who’s going to be that person. It’s going to be important to get that guy to protect the football and run the offense to the highest level possible,” Allen said. ” … I don’t think today either one protected the ball very well. There was no question you’d like to see sustained drives. There’s no question we will make a decision on who needs to be the guy. Wanted to use this as an opportunity who would step up and take it. Hope one of them would’ve done that and that was the goal for today, to feel good about who’s going to take over at that spot … didn’t feel like the last couple weeks we’ve played good enough. ”

Saturday’s decision to play both quarterbacks continues the trend this year of multiple quarterbacks receiving multiple snaps in games. In total, at least two quarterbacks have led drives in four of the six games.

Allen says that’s not the plan moving forward.

“We will make a decision,” Allen said. “We won’t be rotating guys like that moving forward.”

Jackson is 78-of-128 for 914 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions this season. He has played in all six games. Sorsby is 30-of-57 for 294 yards with two touchdowns. He has played in four games.

“We just want to find a guy who is going to be able to move us down the field,” Allen said. “Obviously we got two young guys who need to figure it out and we need to help them be successful.

It’s going on to week eight after a bye week. This shouldn’t be a topic of discussion at this point in the season. The quick-trigger of the staff to pull either quarterback after one mistake is a huge detriment to the growth of the offense.

With each passing week, there seem to be more questions than answers as it related to the Indiana football program. That’s not a good spot to be in.

SEE ALSO: Tom Allen reacts to Indiana football 52-7 loss to Michigan

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