Indiana football: Three questions for Tom Allen at Big Ten 2023 Media Days

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Tom Allen is hitting lead off on Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
He will open Day2 of Big Ten Media Days on the main stage where he’s likely to field plenty of questions about the direction of the program.
Those questions are warranted — the Hoosiers have only won two conference games over the past two seasons, the worst such stretch in more than a decade — but there are plenty of other storylines worth discussing.
Here’s three questions The Herald-Times has for Allen this week:
Will Indiana announce a starting quarterback before the season-opener against Ohio State?
Indiana came out of spring practice in the midst of a quarterback battle that showed little sign of wrapping up.
Sound familiar?
Tom Allen’s program was in the exact same spot the last time he stepped up to the podium at Big Ten Media Days.
The faces have changed with the departures of Jack Tuttle (Michigan) and Brendan Sorsby (Bowling Green) making way for Tayven Jackson (Tennessee) and redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby, but Allen could probably get away with recycling what he said last year at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“We came out of spring football and felt like there wasn’t a clear guy to name,” Allen said. “I love the competition, and obviously we’ll have a starter named before the opener, but once that person is named, he will be the starter.”
Allen shared a similar sentiment about this year’s competition in April at the end of spring practice.
"We have two young quarterbacks that have tremendous high upside and just have to keep developing," Allen said. "We aren't going to name a starter. They are two talented young quarterbacks. They both have skills. They can both throw it, and they can both run it.”
Neither have much in the way of experience.
Sorsby stepped into the lineup towards the end of a 45-14 loss to Penn State last season while Jackson made a series of brief appearances for Tennessee in blowout wins over non-power five opponents (Ball State, Akron and Tennessee-Martin).
They combined for 10 passing attempts as true freshmen.
It’s hard to imagine Allen offering reporters a substantive update beyond that on Thursday, so the quarterback-related question becomes this — does he envision publicly naming a starter ahead of the season-opener against Ohio State?
Indiana’s quarterback competition last year wrapped up after the second preseason scrimmage (Aug. 23), but he declined to announce it outside the locker room.
“I’m not going to announce it until kickoff because that’s the right way to do it,” Allen said, during camp last year. “I call the defense, and if I know who the quarterback is, that’s a little bit different than if I’m not sure.”
The Hoosiers did go on to win the season-opener 23-20 over Illinois with Bazelak throwing for 330 yards (53.8%) with a touchdown and interception.
How challenging has Indiana’s roster makeover been?
The Hoosiers have signed 38 transfers over the last two years (23 this season), according to 247 Sports transfer portal rankings. That ranks fifth in the FBS behind only Colorado (57), Arizona State (44), Ole Miss (43) and SMU (43).
They also had plenty of attrition last year and signed 15 other recruits in their 2023 signing class.
Is that affecting team chemistry? Has Allen changed his approach to best incorporate all those new faces on and off the field?
OK, so maybe that’s more than just one question, but it’s all related, especially now with everyone on campus.
Fans in Bloomington are interested to see what kind of impact players like Jackson, defensive end Andre Carter (Western Michigan), wide receiver Dequece Carter (Fordham) and Jacob Mangum-Farrar (Stanford) have, but there’s national interest in how teams like Indiana do as coaches look to see if it’s a workable strategy in building (or rebuilding) a roster.
The Hoosiers are one of the teams at the center of that experiment.
What’s Jaylin Lucas’ pitch count?
Allen told NBC Sports Chicago last week that Jaylin Lucas would be on a pitch count this year… except he meant the opposite.
In baseball, a pitch count is usually a limit a manger puts in place for a younger pitcher in hopes of managing their workload.
That’s not what Allen has in mind for Lucas and he clarified with a laugh that he wants the reigning Big Ten specialist of the year to have the ball in his hands as much as possible.
He averaged 7.8 touches per game last year and had 944 all-purpose yards.
More:Why IU freshman star Jaylin Lucas passed on portal: ‘I can see myself just building a legacy.’
Allen might be reluctant to put an exact number on it at Big Ten Media Days, but what’s a realistic range look like between Lucas’ snaps on special teams, running back and wide receiver? Does Allen want to double that? Or go higher?
Lucas was absolutely electric last year and his development will be a huge factor in Indiana’s overall success.