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It's no secret that Indiana's roster this fall will feature a plethora of new faces in new places all over the depth chart.

The same is true for the quarterback position, as the issue of who will be the head man under center for the Hoosiers has been one of high interest throughout most of the offseason. Redshirt senior and program veteran Jack Tuttle has been entrenched in competition with Mizzou-transfer Connor Bazelak for the title of QB1 dating back to spring ball.

Yet, for all of the questions asked, we don't have an answer as of yet. With kickoff against Illinois in just over three weeks, head coach Tom Allen, offensive coordinator Walt Bell and the rest of the offensive staff are seeing everything they can before they make a decision and name a starter.

"We have our first scrimmage coming up on Friday and I think that will be pretty telling for us to get the feedback we're trying to get," said Allen as he met with the media on Tuesday. "On a daily basis, we're trying to install our system on both sides, and so that process continues."

Allen said during his press conference at Big Ten Media Days that he plans on going forward with a single QB rather than a dual-QB system, so winning the job means winning it outright for the foreseeable future. This tracks well with Allen teams of the past, as he's generally stuck it out with his quarterbacks during rough patches of play. Injuries have thrown a wrench in those plans in several years past, but there's just as much value in having a guy you trust on the sidelines as much as the one in the huddle. Whether it's been guys like Peyton Ramsey or Tuttle in the past, that's often been the case.

He did, however, provide some insight into what he was looking for out of his QB this fall, saying that he is looking for his QB to win the locker room, protect the football, and have a mastery of the offense.

"When you have a competition like this, you don't have one guy that is addressing the team, they're both doing that in their settings and when practice is over, there's a good balance there," Allen said. "Guys are looking to [Bazelak and Tuttle] to be those leaders in those situations. I see progress without question but am really anxious to see the first scrimmage. That is, to me, really where you'll get the most reps of just pure playing football."

While Allen made mention of the evident leaps forward, he noted that each guy has standout qualities that separate them from one another. Of course, that doesn't make the decision any easier, but the knowledge gives him the most factors that could affect his thought process.

"You just see flashes from both guys to be able to run the offense with a commanding mindset, to be able to make all the throws too need to make," Allen said.

With such a versatile arsenal of weapons at their disposal, a big factor of he and his staff's decision revolves around the utilization of that talent. Ultimately, the goal is to churn out the most production on offense, and no position is more important to that desired outcome than the signal caller.

"You think about Jack, just so competitive and such a great preparer and is just doing a really good job of just learning," Allen said. Although Tuttle is an aforementioned veteran returning to the program for his fourth season at IU, it's yet another new offensive system to dive into. "Where to get his eyes, where to make the throws, running the system from the wholistic perspective is where I'm seeing the growth there, which is what you want."

On the other hand, Bazelak came to Indiana from Missouri in January and has shown promise from day one. The former co-Freshman of the Year in the SEC threw for over 5,000 yards during his two years with the Tigers, and is a strong candidate in his own right to win the job heading into week one.

"With Connor, [what sticks out is] just the quick release ability," Allen said. "You're seeing the growth in the mastery of the system because he hasn't been here as long as Jack, but bottom line is throwing catchable balls. One thing that sticks out to me about Connor is that he can throw a catchable ball and that is really the key."

Allen isn't the only on who's noticed improvement either. To this point, Bell has been impressed with the growth the offense has encountered over the course of the time away from campus.

"I think our kids have done a phenomenal job through the summer, I think that's the first thing," Bell said as he addressed the media on Tuesday. "From where we left in the spring to where we are now, there's a big, noticeable difference. Kudos to those guys for how they've prepared this summer because we're in a much better place than we were when we exited the spring. So, they've done a lot of really good work."

The same trend continued as Bell would rave about each position group, giving props to the offensive line and his skill guys who have been "hungry" to learn and improve from a mentality standpoint. So, when it came to the topic of what he's seen from the quarterbacks, he wasn't shy to show his appreciation and excitement about the progress.

"From an overall system knowledge, we're so much further along," Bell said. "As elementary as this sounds, you kind of talk about the A, B, Cs of certain concepts, and then eventually through repetition you start to learn some D, E, Fs. To be able to start with D, E, Fs, as we're on our way to the X, Y, Zs is a nice thing."

Bell would go on to say that both Tuttle and Bazelak have done a great job and are handling the competition well, helping each other out and being good teammates due to their excellent human nature on top of their football ability. Yet, as conversation centers around Connor and Jack, Bell also made mention of the impressive strides made by redshirt freshman Dexter Williams II, a prime candidate to possibly flourish into the role given some time in the future.

"[He] is going to be a really good player someday," Bell said. "I'm really impressed with the improvement that Dexter has made between spring and today."

Overall, Bell sees three really good football players who are all deserving of the spot, and more importantly, three guys he can trust to be thrusted into a game situation. It's a sentiment that circulates the entire program, and much like performance on the field, it starts with at quarterback.

"All three of those kids, great teammates, good people, they're doing everything they possibly can to go win and compete for the job."

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