ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Football is a team sport but at the end of the day, no team can win without a good starting quarterback.
Indiana's search for the man under center has been going on for quite some time and the search still continues. It’s been seven weeks since the start of the season, and Indiana is still without a starting quarterback.
Indiana was primed for a noon kickoff against the No.2 team in the country, Michigan, and the game went as expected. Indiana actually controlled the start of the game ending the first quarter up 7-0 but the success didn't last long. Michigan would shortly after find their rhythm and march down the field with ease. The first two drives resulted in punts but then the following seven consecutive drives resulted in points for the Wolverines. Michigan would hang onto its season long dominance and earn the 52-7 win.
There weren’t many high expectations for this Hoosiers team heading into Saturday but they still found a way to surprise everyone watching. Tayven Jackson was named the starter in week three but that all changed in the opening minutes of the game. Indiana would start the game with the ball in their hands and moments after the opening kick, it was reported by Fox Sports that Indiana would once again, go back to rotating their two quarterbacks.
This was their tallest task of the season going up against arguably the best team in the country and yet still, head coach Tom Allen walked into Michigan Stadium without a definitive starting quarterback.
Jackson would start the game playing the first two drives before Sorsby would take over on the third drive of the game. The plan was to see which of the two quarterbacks would play better against Michigan and go from there. Neither quarterback worked.
After the first three drives, both quarterbacks would rotate taking turns going out onto the field. There was no one single factor to determine who was going out on the field, it was a matter of taking turns. Sorsby would go on to play the majority of the game as it was later revealed that Jackson might have suffered a small injury to his throwing hand but even then, there was nothing to determine who would be playing.
Players would go out onto the field not knowing which quarterback was going to throw them the ball. It was a constant back and forth decision between the coaching staff and the two quarterbacks. That’s not a formula for success.
“I think it's hard to get yourself into a routine and get other guys into a routine,” wide receiver Donovan McCulley said. “I’m not sure why they were flip-flopping, but I think it's hard when you are doing that.”
Michigan was dominant once they found their groove and caused both quarterbacks to struggle. Jackson started off the game with his first two drives resulting in a punt and an interception. After the only touchdown of the game for the Hoosiers, which came from McCulley, their former starting quarterback, Sorsby’s next three drives resulted in a combined zero yards. The struggles continued as the following drives settled in two turnovers, two turnovers on downs, and one more punt.
Allen clarified after the game that leading up to this week against Michigan, the coaching planned on rotating both Jackson and Sorsby.
“Yeah that was the plan,” Allen said. “We met with the guys earlier in the week and told them how we were going to play. We were going to play Tayven the first two series and Brendan the third and fourth series and then see who had the hot hand, who was playing the best. So just trying to find the best combination…We have to find who's going to be that person. I just feel like that in order for us to be where we need to be to finish out the last half of our season, it's going to be important to get the guy that is going to protect the football and run the offense at the highest level possible.”
The days of Indiana’s rotating quarterback were supposed to be over but yet they have come back from the dead. This game against Michigan was supposed to help the Hoosiers come out with more answers about who was going to be their guy moving forward, yet there are now more questions than answers.
Neither quarterback was able to find any success on the field and neither of them seem to have a working plan for the offensive. Jackson and Sorsby combined for less than 100 yards and were unable to record a touchdown. Both quarterbacks also had a combined four turnovers. Sorsby completed just six total passes while Jackson completed seven. The offense continued to struggle and the rotating quarterbacks never found their footing.
“I don't think today neither one of them protected the ball very well and I think there's no question you want to see those sustained drives,” Allen said. “There’s no questions we'll make a decision who we feel like is going to be the guy. Just trying to use this as an opportunity to see who would step up and take it, hopefully one of them would have done that and that was really the goal from today which was the goal for today to feel good about who is going to take over.”
The question of who will be Indiana’s starting quarterback is, once again, hanging over the entire program. Indiana is in full swing of conference play and yet the search continues. The rotation sooner or later has to come to an end but until then, it still seems like Indiana is still in search for their guy.
Saturday's game against Michigan was sort of a rude awakening. There's still no starter and Allen threw both quarterbacks into the Lions.
The saying is as old as football. If you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterback.
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