Allen Will Not Announce a Starting Quarterback Until Kickoff Against Illinois

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Indiana head coach Tom Allen know how important the season opening game against Illinois is for his program. Allen shut down spring practice to outsiders and has limited what is seen during practice and scrimmages, so it’s not a surprise Hoosier fans, and the Illini, will have to wait until September 2nd to find out who starts at quarterback for IU.

“it will not be announced till the end.” Allen said. “But the bottom line is that we will know and he will know and the team will know.”

Allen told reporters on Friday that he and his staff would know internally a few days after IU’s second scrimmage. It’s gamesmanship and with the ultra-high importance of the game against Illinois, there’s no reason to make his decision public.

The Hoosiers held their first scrimmage on Friday morning, giving the coaches a better chance to evaluate the position and accomplish what they set out to see out of Jack Tuttle and Connor Bazelak

“I think the bottom line is that I wanted to get the ball thrown down the field and create those explosive plays and those chunk plays. It doesn't have to be bombs; we are talking about even just the deep 10-15-yard concepts. Just trying to get the ball to the second level and get [the defense] stressed.” Allen said. “I thought all three guys were effective at that. The part about reading the defense and we will know that more when we watch the film and do all that to know for sure. It appeared that there was good command of the offense.”

There are characteristics Allen and offensive coordinator Walt Bell want to see from their signal callers.

“As I have said from the beginning, it is commanding the offense, number one, protecting the football, number two, which I thought we did a good job of that today, and then, number three, it's winning the team over. Who believes that when we have the ball with time on the clock if that guy is in the huddle our team believes we are going to go find a way to win. That's the final step to figure out who the guy needs to be.” Allen explained after Friday’s scrimmage.