Sudfeld, Roberson continue duel for quarterback position

Before the season, there was a quarterback controversy among sophomores Nate Sudfeld and Tre Roberson and junior Cam Coffman.

Roberson was named the starter for the team’s first two games and struggled in his second start, failing to register a first down in the first two drives against Navy.

Sudfeld came in and has been the starter ever since, despite a slight lack of production as of late.

“I’ve seen them both have ups and downs because I think they listen to the public perspective too much,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said.

Earlier in the season Sudfeld was one of the conference’s best, and he still is statistically one of the Big Ten’s top quarterbacks.

Before the Michigan game Sudfeld was on pace to break or come close to breaking IU records in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completion percentage.

Even after missing most of the Michigan game, Sudfeld is third in passing yards per game, racking up 246.6 yards per contest.

However, against Michigan the script was flipped from earlier this season when Sudfeld was ineffective and Roberson shone. Sudfeld completed less than 50 percent of his passes — he finished 8-19, 42 percent— and averaged just 6.4 yards per attempt.

Wilson said he thought Sudfeld, a traditional pocket-passer quarterback, didn’t handle Michigan’s rainy elements as well as the Roberson, who is more of a dual-threat quarterback, could have.

“We kind of got after him last week,” Wilson said of Sudfeld. “Quit being so moody and mopey, quit worrying about who goes out first.”

He was subsequently benched for Roberson, who helped the IU offense score 40 points in the final three quarters. Roberson finished 16-23 for 288 yards and three touchdowns, and he averaged 12.5 yards per attempt.

The other thing Roberson did was open the door for another quarterback
controversy.

“They both can run our offense,” Wilson said. “And when they both get going, they both have looked really good. And when they both have been off, they both have looked very, very poor.”

Wilson said he will wait until the practice week is over to declare a starter.
He could opt to go back to Roberson, and he stressed that the job is up for grabs.

“Tre might come first this week,” he said. “And we’ll just kind of see where the week goes because I got confidence in him.”

Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter
@EvanHoopfer.