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Indiana is in the midst of a seven game losing streak and over the last few weeks, a lot of the struggles have revolved around the play of the quarterback. Whether it has been Jack Tuttle, Connor Bazelak, Dexter Williams or Brendan Sorsby -- all who have seen snaps in the last two weeks -- the result has been the same. All losses.

But, the one quarterback who has sparked a bit of energy into the offense has been Dexter Williams.

The redshirt sophomore took over for Bazelak just three series into the 56-14 loss to Ohio State on Saturday, but showed an ability to move the ball -- something missing from the offense for numerous games and series before.

He's still young, inexperienced and made some mistakes, but the potential seems to be there.

“I just wish I could’ve been more consistent in my throws,” Williams said postgame. “We’ll go back to work this week and I’ll work on that, and the receivers will work on getting our timing down. And we’ll figure it out.”

In five quarters this season, Williams has led the Hoosiers to 21 points -- compared to 17 points in the previous seven quarters.

On Saturday, he led Indiana right down the field in his first possession for a 75-yard touchdown drive on six plays. On the afternoon he finished 6-of-19 for 107 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 16 times for 46 yards. The biggest thing he did was not turn the ball over.

“When you have a guy that can extend the play with his legs, it does put more stress on the defense, without question,” Tom Allen said. “Definitely gives you an advantage, and we want to be able to keep expanding that. I liked what I saw from him. You’ve got to find guys on your roster that can help you move the football on offense, get first downs, and score points.”

In order for Indiana to grow and move forward in some capacity, it's about letting Williams grow into the position and utilize his skillsets by opening up the playbook even more, despite some growing pains that will come with.

"Yeah, I felt like it was rushing things a little bit, not getting his feet set a couple throws. I get it, you're out there and it's a big stage and he is young," Allen said. "I think that some of those misses were just, you read progressions, sometimes it's catching throws, sometimes it's reading the coverage and the different things we read through each concept. I just think it's being able to process everything and then get your feet right and then make throws because obviously he has arm talent. That is the thing we talked about with him, is being more consistent in that area because as you continue do grow and develop, those things grow with you.

"I will say, you know, he was, like you said, he wasn't the two, and so he was always with that group taking some reps, and doing all the routes on air and doing all the things with that group... Knew that he had talent for sure, was young... how many reps do you put into that guy that may or may not play much, and to be able to get that and then also, if it's different. So it is definitely a package, I would say. There would be a very precise part of the package to start with and you grow from there."

Indiana has now gone 5-17 overall and 1-15 in the Big Ten in the last year and a half. There have been seven different quarterbacks to see snaps in that time frame as well. With that position being the most important for any team's success, there needs to be consistency. In order for Indiana to sniff any bit of success over the next year, it needs to start with who starts this upcoming week at Michigan State and then the week after against Purdue to close the season. That is Dexter Williams and he has already shown the leadership to do so.

"He has a really, really -- he has a great personality. He's an articulate guy that's not afraid to speak and really loves his teammates and they love him back," Allen said. "... I think they respect the adversity that he's overcome, and to come back and to stay here, being a young quarterback that has obviously showed that he has talent... The fact that he's stayed here and been true to us, I think the guys respect that about him and they enjoy being around him.

"He's a high-quality person. He's experienced some challenges off the field as well and at home and I think once again, that causes guys to just really rally around you a little bit. So he's just a genuinely good person that's worked really, really hard and has some really good level football talent."

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