Insider: 5 burning questions for IU football as it opens camp, starting, with quarterback

BLOOMINGTON – IU reports for fall camp this weekend, with practice opening Tuesday on what Tom Allen will hope is a turnaround season from a deeply disappointing 2021.

Any recovery will need to start with answers to some critical questions facing Allen and his staff, weighted toward offense. Here are five crucial issues Allen will need to address as early as possible, if camp is going to set up a better season than the one it follows:

Who starts at QB for IU?

For the first time in his IU tenure, Allen opens preseason without Peyton Ramsey or Michael Penix in his quarterback room. Ramsey has been gone for two years now, of course, but between them, he and Penix accounted for the bulk of positive production from the most important position on Allen’s team between 2017-21.

Now, Allen turns to a familiar face, Jack Tuttle, and a new one, Connor Bazelak, a transfer from Missouri. Tuttle has the edge in terms of time in an Indiana uniform, but Bazelak brings impressive credentials of his own, having thrown for 2,548 yards and 16 touchdowns last season at Missouri. He has more than 5,000 career passing yards in college.

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With Donaven McCulley moved to receiver, and no other quarterback on roster having taken a collegiate snap, it’s not surprising Allen has publicly declared Tuttle and Bazelak the frontrunners to be his starting QB for IU’s Sept. 2 opener against Illinois.

But somebody’s got to win the job. There will be no more watched position battle in camp.

How do new faces settle?

Bazelak is one of close to three dozen new Hoosiers added to the roster since the end of last season. Coupled with a similar number of outgoing players, Indiana’s roster has spent this winter, spring and summer navigating significant roster churn.

Some of that was by design. The COVID-allowed extra year of eligibility let IU bring more veterans back last year than it would have otherwise, and that meant the offseason now ending was always going to force a larger group out the door than under normal circumstances.

But new faces are new faces. Indiana added its highest-ranked recruiting class ever, from which it will probably draw some immediate contributions this fall. And the Hoosiers added transfers who figure to play significant snaps across at least a half dozen different position groups.

Allen has stayed busy retooling his roster this offseason. This will be our first look at the results.

Are those freshmen ready?

Indiana’s 2022 signing class was the first in program history ranked in the top 30 nationally, and while not every player will be ready for early playing time, it stands to reason a decent handful will. Especially given a large chunk of that class enrolled early and participated in spring practice.

Who will be first in line? Dasan McCullough was one of those early enrollees, a big-bodied linebacker who ought to be in the mix at a position that’s lost a fair bit of production across the last two years. Wide receiver Omar Cooper didn’t reach campus until this summer, but his explosiveness and capacity for big plays during his Lawrence North career suggest he might be able to fill one of the several holes the Hoosiers have at that position.

We could wax on about every member of the class, but the broader point is the important one: IU may have to ask more of this group that it has its last couple of freshman classes. Fall camp will sort out who’s ready right away.

Where is the soul of the defense?

Forgive the hyperbolic phrasing, but Indiana took some noticeable hits in defensive personnel after last season (Micah McFadden, Ryder Anderson, Reese Taylor) and never really replaced a couple of key departures the previous year (namely Jamar Johnson).

Additionally, Allen is resuming playcalling duties on that side of the ball, something he gave up in 2019. He’s never singled anyone out by name but more than once this offseason, Allen has left the impression he wasn’t pleased with the direction the defense eventually took under its previous coordinator, Charlton Warren. His putting both hands back on the wheel might be firmest evidence of that.

Who replaces some of the biggest voices and contributors on that defense? And how does Allen’s resumption of playcalling duties change the way his defense operates on game days? Again, having been shut out of spring practice, this is our first chance to rough out some answers to those questions.

How does McCulley look?

Given he was the highest-ranked quarterback Indiana had ever signed when he picked the Hoosiers out of Lawrence North in 2021, McCulley’s move to receiver has been met with more than one raised eyebrow inside IU’s fan base this offseason.

Allen said multiple times the move was prompted by McCulley’s suggestion, but it’s certainly one Indiana’s sixth-year coach embraced. He believes McCulley could be as good of a receiver as any Allen has ever had in Bloomington. That’s high praise.

It’s also, when coupled to the inevitable curiosity that comes with switching a highly regarded player’s position, going to prompt big expectations. How well has McCulley adapted to that position? How quickly can he make an impact as the season appears on the horizon, and theory starts to become reality?

For better or worse, IU fans will spend a fair bit of their time and energy in August evaluating the wide receiver they once thought was their quarterback of the future. It will be interesting to see how McCulley embraces that.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football: 5 burning questions start at quarterback