Analysis: Once again, it's all about the QB position for the Hoosiers

Once again, Indiana football is six games into the season and the focus is on the quarterback position.

Indiana fans can only hope this year works out a lot better than one transpired a season ago.

Last year, in the sixth game at Iowa, Nate Sudfeld injured his non-throwing shoulder and was lost for the season. IU eventually went with Zander Diamont for the final six games and the Hoosiers went 1-5 to end the year.

Saturday, it was Diamont, making his first start of the year in place of the injured Sudfeld, who went down with a third quarter shoulder injury and didn’t return. Danny Cameron ran the offense for the final quarter and a half and Indiana came out on the losing end of a 29-7 decision at Penn State.

But as IU prepares for a critical Homecoming matchup next Saturday at Memorial Stadium against Rutgers, all eyes will be on the quarterback position and what the Hoosiers will be able to do.

If Sudfeld can play, and has reasonable mobility on his ankle, Indiana has a good chance to win and improve to 5-2 which would put the Hoosiers within one game of bowl eligibility with five games to play. But if it’s not Sudfeld, then the Hoosiers could be in jeopardy of dropping a third consecutive Big Ten game to open the 2015 conference season.

Following the game Saturday, Kevin Wilson was asked what went into his final decision not to play Sudfeld or starting tailback Jordan Howard.

“I waited to see how much they could do,’’ Wilson said. “Nate practiced (Friday) a little bit more. Jordan didn’t do as much. Nate could have played. He just wasn’t very mobile. I don’t know how many plays he could have extended and been able to protect himself. It’s kind of the way it was last week at the end of the game. He could have played. Personally I didn’t feel good with it. He was available today but he was limited and we didn’t want to put him in harm’s way.’’

As for Diamont, Wilson said it was too early to tell but he didn’t think the sophomore quarterback’s injury was a serious one.
“Zander’s thing I don’t think is that bad,’’ Wilson said. “I don’t think it’s anything major.’’

And so that’s where Indiana football sits at the halfway point of the Big Ten season.

The bottom line is that for Indiana to not only have a shot to become bowl eligible but to then have a chance to win a postseason game, the Hoosiers need a healthy Sudfeld and Howard. Sure, Wilson could have played Sudfeld on Saturday but he had he further aggravated his injury then the Hoosiers could have been basically throwing away the season. Give him another week of rest and see how it heals up and hopefully the senior QB will be ready to go against Rutgers.

But I just think it’s asking too much of the other guys at that position to think that you can win Big Ten football games.

Diamont does some good things but he never looks comfortable out there, he’s not an accurate throwing quarterback and he takes a few too many chances running the ball which ultimately can get him in trouble. The fact that he was 1-5 as a starter last year tells the story pretty accurately. I think he’s better than he was a year ago but there certainly isn’t anyone thinking there’s a quarterback controversy in Bloomington if both Sudfeld and Diamont were healthy at the same time.

Myself, I think Indiana has a better chance to win with Cameron. He looks more poised in the pocket an I’d like to see what he could do if he had a full week of No. 1 reps to prepare to start against an opponent. Well, I say that and actually I’d rather that wasn’t the scenario. I would prefer Sudfeld getting all the reps and playing Saturday against Rutgers.

Ultimately, that’s where it will all be decided. If Sudfeld can get back to being able to play consistently and lead the offense then Indiana should still be able to win six or seven games and get bowl eligible this season.

But if he doesn’t, I just think it’s going to be a long haul for the final six games for Indiana.