The Indiana Hoosiers are trying to improve from their 6-18 record over the last two seasons and have won only two Big Ten games since the 2021 season. Head coach Tom Allen wants to get this team on track in 2023. He brought in a bunch of transfers from the transfer portal and has added depth to the Hoosiers team. Will all the moves that Allen made lead to a successful 2023 season? Here is the preview for the 2023 Indiana Hoosiers.
Offense
The Indiana offense is going to need to take a big step forward in order to compete in the Big Ten. They brought in Tayven Jackson (Tennessee) to become their new starting quarterback. Jackson, a redshirt freshman and a former four star recruit, is looking for new life in Bloomington. Tayven Jackson is going to have to get acclimated to the new offense that he will be leading the charge of in 2023. Jackson’s number one target in 2023 is none other than Cam Camper. Last season in seven games before tearing his ACL, Camper had 46 receptions to go along with 569 receiving yards. In an air raid style of offense, Camper is going to be the number one option.
Indiana brought in two transfers at wide receiver that can make an impact for this team. Dequece Carter (Fordham) and E.J. Williams (Clemson) are two targets that Jackson could rely on in 2023. Jackson is going to need to have faith in his targets to make this air raid offense work. Their running game has been non-existent at times the last two seasons. However, they need someone to step up and be a threat offensively for the Hoosiers. Running backs Josh Henderson, Jaylin Lucas, and transfer Christian Turner (Wake Forest) will be leading the charge to hopefully change the tide for the Hoosiers offense. The Hoosiers return two offensive line starters from last year in left guard Mike Katic and center Zach Carpenter. They will start a freshman at left tackle and they’ll need two more lineman to step up on the right side of the line. This team offensively will go as far as their quarterback plays and they will need their offensive lineman to protect and to be a lot better than they have the last two seasons.
Defense
The Hoosiers have seen guys that have come and go and they brought in a lot of transfers to try and revamp this defense. Up front, the defensive line is led by defensive end Myles Jackson. Jackson is important up front and the Hoosiers need some help as they struggled to put pressure on the opposing quarterback last year. Indiana brought in three key transfers to help the defensive line depth. They brought in defensive tackles Philip Blidi (Texas Tech) and Marcus Burris Jr (Texas A&M), as well as defensive end Andre Carter (Western Michigan).
The linebacker core is led by Aaron Casey who was the team’s leading tackler a season ago. The Hoosiers also added Jacob Mangum-Farrar (Stanford) from the transfer portal. Adding Mangum-Farrar helped add some depth to this linebacker core. They are going to need someone to step up to strengthen that linebacker group. In the secondary, they are led by safeties Josh Sanguinetti and Phillip Dunman. They needed help at cornerback and in came Nicolas Toomer (Stanford) and Jamier Johnson (Texas). This group needed a little bit of a shake up and they will need all hands on deck to turn this tide around.
Win Total Bet
The win total is set at 3.5 on the FanDuel Sportsbook, with the over odds set at -176 and the under odds set at +142. The Indiana Hoosiers have a tough schedule in 2023. I think the Hoosiers are going to be able to just barely get over this win total that is set for them. With the odds set as high as they are, I am staying far away from this win total. Even though I could see them only winning three games, I will stay away just in case they have that fourth win that comes out of nowhere.
Schedule Predictions
Loss vs Ohio State (0-1)
Win vs Indiana State (1-1)
Loss vs Louisville (1-2)
Win vs Akron (2-2)
Loss at Maryland (2-3)
Loss at Michigan (2-4)
Win vs Rutgers (3-4)
Loss at Penn State (3-5)
Loss vs Wisconsin (3-6)
Bad Loss at Illinois (3-7)
Win vs Michigan State (4-7)
Loss at Purdue (4-8)