2023 Indiana Football Predictions and Season Preview

Indiana football finished 2022 with a mediocre 4-8 record. The Hoosiers only beat Illinois, Idaho, Western Kentucky and Michigan State and lost by single digits against Maryland and Rutgers, but they were blown out in each of its other games.

This year, FanDuel Sportsbook has opened the bidding on Indiana’s win total at 3.5, with the over juiced to -176. The Hoosiers sit at +30000 to win the Big Ten, which ranks dead last. Let’s get into Indiana football predictions with a season preview and roster overview.

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2023 Indiana Football Predictions & Season Preview

Indiana Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff

Indiana now enters Year 7 of the Tom Allen era. In his time with the Hoosiers, Indiana has only reached a bowl game twice. Indiana can be a tough place to win, but more is certainly expected of him. This year, he retains offensive coordinator Walt Bell and defensive coordinator Chad Wilt. Allen did add former Ohio State analyst Matt Guerrieri as co-defensive coordinator. He previously coordinated defenses with Duke and will hopefully turn this defense around in 2023. Bell previously held UMass’ head coaching job before sliding over to Indiana.

Indiana Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense

Quarterback

Indiana finds themselves with a quarterback competition on its hands between Tennessee transfer Tayven Jackson and redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby. Last year, Connor Bazelak played the position (poorly) for most of the season. Dexter Williams II appeared in four games before suffering a severe knee injury in the season finale. With Williams out of the picture, Jackson should be considered the favorite to start here. Younger brother of basketball star Trayce Jackson-Davis. Jackson was a four-star recruit, the 198th overall player and the 13th quarterback recruit in the 2022 class. Jackson looks to have some mobility and he is 6-foot-3, 212 pounds. Sorsby was a three-star recruit, the 1013th player and 66th-ranked quarterback in the 2022 class. He threw six es last year, but both quarterbacks are completely unknown. Jackson has the better pedigree and theoretically should be an upgrade on Bazelak.

Running Back

Indiana lost Shaun Shivers this offseason, but it returns second and third-leading rushers Josh Henderson and Jaylin Lucas. Henderson is 5-foot-11, 215 pounds, and rushed 89 times for 390 yards, while catching 24 of 29 targets for 294 yards. He averaged 2.97 yards after and a missed tackle on 33.7% of his attempts. Henderson quietly had an efficient 2022 but played in a poor offense. Lucas is 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, and rushed 50 times for 272 yards, while catching 15 of 19 targets for 81 yards. He could play a role as a third down back. Indiana also added Wake Forest transfer Christian Turner, who should immediately help. Turner is 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, and rushed 128 times for 516 yards and seven touchdowns, while catching five es for another 39 yards. Wake Forest notoriously uses a running back by committee, so he will hope to gain more playing time here.

Wide Receiver

Indiana lost Emery Simmons and D.J. Matthews, but it returns its alpha in Cam Camper. The former junior college prospect tore his ACL in Week 8 last year. However, he has already begun individual drills, tentatively putting him on track to play right away this year. Camper is 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, and caught 45 of 82 targets for 560 yards and a pair of touchdowns last year. He played out wide 86.4% of the time and his 1.82 yards per route ranked 20th in the Big Ten. Indiana also returns its fourth-leading receiver in Andison Coby after running Henderson ranked third in receiving. Coby is 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, and caught 18 of 44 targets for 237 yards and one touchdown last year. He played out wide on 85.3% of his snaps, logging a 0.83 yards per route, which ranked 61st. It will also have converted quarterback Donaven McCulley playing his second season at wide receiver. McCulley is 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, and caught 16 of 33 targets for 169 yards last year. He played out wide on 83.9% of his snaps and logged a 0.95 yards per route (59th). This isn’t too surprising considering it was his first year at the position. From there, Indiana added Clemson transfer E.J. Williams to the mix after he turned 22 targets into seven catches for 70 yards last year. Williams is 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, and now enters his fourth collegiate season. Indiana has an abundance of larger perimeter receivers, but very little proven slot commodities. It landed Fordham transfer DeQuece Carter, who caught 56 of 88 targets for 1,167 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. Carter is 6-foot-0, 196 pounds, and also played the perimeter. The team also has redshirt freshman Kamryn Perry and former four-star recruit Omar Cooper. Cooper was the 299th player in last year’s class. He is 6-foot-1, 193 pounds. Perry is the only traditional slot out of this bunch at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds. This is a semi-talented room, but the exact pecking order remains to be seen.

Tight End

Indiana lost A.J. Barner to transfer, leaving a void at tight end. It does return James Bomba and Aaron Steinfeldt, who both played a bit last year. Bomba is 6-foot-6, 251 pounds, and blocked on 69% of his 179 snaps in his first year with Indiana. He caught five es for 22 yards. Steinfeldt is 6-foot-5, 246 pounds, and blocked on 43% of his 177 snaps. He caught six es for 52 yards. It also landed Stanford transfer Bradley Archer. Archer failed to log a catch last year, but he blocked on 42 of his 52 snaps last year. He is 6-foot-3, 255 pounds. It is hard to see this group providing the same production as Barner.

Offensive Line

Indiana lost left tackle Luke Haggard and right tackle Parker Hanna this offseason. However, it will be returning Matthew Bedford from injury at the tackle position. He only played 37 snaps last year, but he played at least 530 in each of the three prior seasons. He is the favorite for the right tackle slot, presuming health. Due to injury reserve tackle, Joshua Sales Jr. also received 324 snaps last year. He mainly filled in at right tackle, but he also dabbled on the left side as well. Regardless, these should be the two tackles. At center, Zach Carpenter returns after 697 snaps. Left guard Mike Katic is also back after playing both guard and center last year. He played 902 snaps last year and has two years of starting experience. It also has right guard Kahlil Benson, who played 648 snaps. Even reserve guard Tim Weaver played 251 snaps last year. This was not exactly the best offensive line unit in the country, so Indiana added a few transfers. It added UMass tackle Max Longman . He played 543 and 721 snaps each of the last two seasons. He played really well and could potentially contribute. It also added TCU transfer Noah Bolticoff. He only played six snaps last year. He is a former three-star recruit from the 2021 cycle. Overall, this unit should be slightly improved compared to last year.

Indiana Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense

Indiana ranked 118th on defense in 2022. This included the 57th-ranked run defense, 128th-ranked rush and 127th-ranked secondary. The Hoosiers lose a few key players on this unit, including much of their defensive line. However, they  hammered the transfer portal, and this unit could improve. There is not really much room for them to get worse.

Defensive Line

On the edge, Indiana lost Alfred Bryant, Dasan McCullough and James Head. The two potential in-house replacements are Beau Robbins and Myles Jackson. The pair played 370 and 337 snaps, respectively. The pair combined for 3.5 tackles for loss and 30 total tackles. However, both were largely average on their snaps, and Indiana decided to attack the portal. It brought in Andre Carter from Western Michigan, where he logged second-team All-MAC honors. Anthony Jones came over from Oregon, where he played in two games as a linebacker/edge hybrid.

On the interior, Indiana lost Demarcus Elliott and J.H. Tevis. However, the team hammered the transfer portal at this position, bringing in Phillip Blidi (Texas Tech), Robby Harrison (Arizona State), Carl Biddings (Louisville) and Marcus Burris Jr. (Texas A&M). Blidi played 607 snaps for the Red Raiders over the last three years. Harrison only logged nine snaps last year, but he is 6-foot-4, 325 pounds. Biddings played seven snaps for the Cardinals last year and Burris logged 33. Ultimately, this group has a lot to prove, but the overall talent of the players along the defensive line looks improved.

Linebacker

The biggest losses for Indiana could be at the linebacker position. Edge/linebacker hybrid Dasan McCullough hit the portal and Bradley Jennings Jr. also departs. The Hoosiers do return A.J. Casey, who played 626 snaps. Casey led the team with 85 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss, giving the Hoosiers a decent starting position. Like defensive line, Indiana also hammered the transfer portal at linebacker. It brought in Lanell Carr (West Virginia), Darryl Minor (UTEP), Joshua Rudolph (Austin Peay) and Jacob Mangum-Farrar (Stanford). Carr played 475 snaps over the last three years and played some edge as well. He could be a logical replacement for McCullough. Minor did not play much at UTEP after coming from the junior college ranks. However, Rudolph and Mangum-Farrar both saw the field. Mangum-Farrar was horrific for Stanford and Rudolph will now make a massive jump from FCS to the Big Ten. The ultimate talent of this group remains to be seen.

Defensive Back

The secondary lost cornerbacks Taiwan Mullen and Jaylin Williams. However, Noah Pierre returns after 474 snaps last year. He broke up three es and made 39 tackles. He is the favorite to hold down the slot for the moment. Transfers Nicolas Toomer and Jamier Johnson figure to be large parts to this cornerback room. Toomer comes in from Stanford, where he played 633 snaps over the last two seasons. Johnson played 176 snaps with Texas last year, appearing in seven games. Kobee Minor also came in from Texas Tech after 137 snaps last year. Early reports indicate that Johnson and Minor lead this position group heading into the summer.

At safety, Indiana lost Devon Matthews and Bryant Fitzgerald. The player with the most returning experience is Josh Sanguinetti, who played 254 snaps last year. The other starter could be junior college prospect Tyrik McDaniel, who committed to Indiana in December. Ultimately, the secondary looks like one of the least experienced units on the team. With so many transfers across the board, summer camp will be extremely important for this unit.

2023 Indiana Football Schedule & Predictions

Indiana Football 2023 Schedule

Indiana plays a non-conference schedule consisting of Indiana State, Louisville and Akron. The Hoosiers should come out of this 2-1. From the Big Ten West, Indiana draws Wisconsin, Illinois and Purdue. It then plays the usual suspects from the Big Ten West. Overall, this schedule looks pretty difficult for Indiana.

Indiana Football Futures Bet & Prediction

Indiana’s win total comes in at 3.5. Shockingly, this leaves little wiggle room to the over. It should have to easy wins in non-conference, but it likely will not be favored in any other games this year. Over bettors will rely on close spreads against Rutgers and maybe Purdue. Even with the juice, the under looks like the sharpest bet for those taking a stand on the Hoosiers this offseason.

Best Indiana Football Futures Bet: Under 3.5 Wins -176 at FanDuel

You can read the rest of Matt Gajewski’s 2023 college football season previews and predictions below!

• Alabama Season Preview & Predictions
• Arkansas Season Preview & Predictions
• Auburn Season Preview & Predictions
• Baylor Season Preview & Predictions
• Florida Season Preview & Predictions
• Georgia Season Preview & Predictions
• Iowa Season Preview & Predictions
• Iowa State Season Preview & Predictions
• Kansas Season Preview & Predictions
• Kansas State Season Preview & Predictions
• Kentucky Season Preview & Predictions
• LSU Season Preview & Predictions
• Michigan Season Preview & Predictions
• Mississippi State Season Preview & Predictions
• Missouri Season Preview & Predictions
• Oklahoma Season Preview & Predictions
• Oklahoma State Season Preview & Predictions
• Ole Miss Season Preview & Predictions
• South Carolina Season Preview & Predictions
• TCU Season Preview & Predictions
• Tennessee Season Preview & Predictions
• Texas Season Preview & Predictions
• Texas A&M Season Preview & Predictions
• Texas Tech Season Preview & Predictions
• Vanderbilt Season Preview & Predictions
• West Virginia Season Preview & Predictions