Indiana’s tough homecoming matchup against No. 8 Michigan State (5-1) Saturday just got tougher.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the Hoosiers (3-3) will be down to their third-string quarterback – true freshman Zander Diamont – against the Spartans. The team’s second-stringer, true freshman Chris Covington, won’t play for undisclosed reasons. Covington, who came on in relief of injured starter Nate Sudfeld against Iowa last weekend, was listed as the starter on IU’s depth chart Tuesday, but his mother told the Star that her son would not play against the Spartans.
The Indiana coaching staff hoped to redshirt Diamont, a 6-foot-1, 175-pounder from Los Angeles, but he appears to be the best option for the Hoosiers this weekend.
The 6-foot-2, 221-pound Covington, a native of Chicago, missed a few practices last month due to a knee injury but IU head coach Kevin Wilson didn’t offer any answers about an injury for Covington on Wednesday. Wilson also opted not to publically name a starter.
Diamont’s high school coach said that “all signs point to him playing,” and Wilson alluded to the possibility of both Covington and Diamont playing during his Monday press conference.
“Zander is a good player, throws well, runs well," Wilson said Monday. "He's a smaller guy. You've got two freshmen, so you've just got to be careful of what you ask those guys. When you have freshmen, you have some mistakes, and they are going to be challenged, but the defense is going to do everything they can to make his role uncomfortable."
Diamont, who enrolled at IU in January in order to participate in spring practice, threw for 3,501 yards and 47 touchdowns as a high school senior.
Hoosiers offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said that Diamont, a three-star recruit in the 2014 class, has “a little Johnny Manziel in him.”
He’ll have to unleash his inner-Manziel if he wants to help the Hoosiers pull off the upset.
For more Indiana news, visit Peegs.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - Indiana will likely start third-string quarterback Zander Diamont vs. Michigan State
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