Indiana football 2023 fall camp preview: What to watch for beyond quarterback intrigue

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Tom Allen told reporters at Big Ten Media Days last week his team needs to grow up fast.
The Hoosiers open the season with a conference opponent for the fifth time in seven years.
This year that conference opponent happens to be an Ohio State team that will likely start the season ranked in the top five.
“It's a challenge we embrace, without question,” Allen said.
Allen said that requires the roster practicing with “urgency” throughout fall camp. Indiana’s coaching staff needs to have the same approach since spring camp did little to settle the competition up and down the roster.
The highest profile position battle is at quarterback between redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby and Tennessee transfer Tayven Jackson, but the rest of the offense is equally unsettled with only a few players — wide receiver Cam Camper, tackle Matt Beford and running back Jaylin Lucas among them — that can safely write their name on the two-deep.
The same can be said for the defense that only returns one full-time on the defensive side of the ball (linebacker Aaron Casey).
It should make for an eventful few weeks in Bloomington.
Indiana needs a primary running back to emerge
Lucas is going to be one of the featured players in Indiana’s offense, but given his multifaceted role he probably won’t lead the team in carries per game even if he’s in line to double the touches he got in the running game last year (4.5).
That will leave plenty of carries for Josh Henderson and Christian Turner, a pair of ACC transfers who have been career backups. Will they end up splitting the workload like Henderson and Shaun Shivers did last year? Or will one end up claiming the top spot on the depth chart?
Indiana needs better production either way after the rushing offense finished No. 112 in the country (out of 131 teams) with only 3.36 yards per game. That included a woeful stretch at midseason when they went six straight games without rushing for more than 70 yards.
Keep an eye on wide receiver Dequece Carter
Carter has been successful at every level from Woodberry Forest School High School to Fordham. In high school, he graduated as central Virginia’s all-time leading receiver and was named the state’s prep school player of the year.
The four years he spent at Fordham were equally as productive. He was a three-time All-Patriot league selection and finished No. 3 in school history in receiving yardage (3,035).
He’s been the kind of big play threat Indiana has been missing in recent years. The 20.8 yards per catch he averaged was something very few players did at the FBS level (five in total). According to Pro Football Focus, he had 19 catches of 20-yards or more with 11 of those going for touchdowns.
It wouldn’t be fair to expect him to match that production against power five competition on a weekly basis, but if Carter makes a smooth transition it would go a long way in making Indiana football’s offense a bit more dynamic than it was a year ago.
Bob Bostad is going to earn his paycheck
Indiana opens fall camp with more than a dozen scholarship offensive lineman on the roster. That’s a healthy number and speaks to the Hoosiers efforts to reshape that room after naming Bostad as the offensive line coach.
They signed multiple transfers (TCU’s Noah Bolticoff and UMass’ Max Longman) and added another three recruits out of high school in 2023. Outside of Bedford, who Allen called the team’s best offensive lineman, no one should probably feel safe given the level of competition.
The most intriguing name to watch might be Carter Smith, the 6-foot-5, 304-pound redshirt freshman who played in two games last year.
Andre Carter won’t be able to do it alone
Indiana finished last season with 20 sacks (tied for No. 104 in the country) and the defensive line only accounted for 2.5 of those.
Allen knew that wasn’t a winning formula.
The Hoosiers went all-in on the transfer portal and have put together an intriguing group (at least on paper) headlined by former Western Michigan defensive end Andre Carter and former Texas A&M defensive end Marcus Burris. Carter was ranked No. 21 overall in the 247 Sports transfer portal rankings while Burris was a former four-prospect ranked No. 137 overall in the 2021 signing class.
Carter is the more proven of the two — he has 9.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss over the last two years — but Burris’ potential shouldn’t be overlooked. He’s now two years removed from the achilles’s injury that forced him to miss his entire freshman year and will likely get extended reps for the first time in his career this fall.
Allen made it sound like Carter separated himself from the pack in spring, but that starting spot opposite him at defensive end remains up for grabs. It will take more than one guy to give the defensive line a real bite and that’s why it’s so important for someone like Burris to have a strong fall camp.
Revamping cornerback room is a tall task
Who will line up against Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in Week 1? That’s still to be determined.
The two-deep last year had Jaylin Williams and Tiawan Mullen as the starters with Christopher Keys and Brylan Lanier as the backups and none of them are with the program this year.
The competition in fall camp will feature transfers Kobee Minor (Texas Tech), Jamier Johnson (Texas) and Nicolas Toomer (Stanford), a pair of redshirt freshmen (Jamari Sharpe and James Mond III) and true freshman Jordan Shaw (an early signing day flip) competing for playing time.
One name not on the list is highly-touted 2022 signee Trevell Mullen, who entered the transfer portal during the spring.
Toomer (five career starts with 636 career snaps) is the only one with significant experience while Minor (161 snaps) and Johnson (189 snaps) don’t have a career start between them. Minor also spent the first two years of his collegiate career on the offensive side of the ball.
It’s probably the most important position battle on the defense and probably top three overall on the team.