There is a theme when coaches and teammates talk about Nate Sudfeld.
At the threshold of his senior year, they say, the quarterback’s sense of urgency is heightened. Sudfeld lost his junior season — and now, he only has one left.
And although he hasn’t played an official down in 326 days, he has cultivated the qualities to lead this team that he lacked a season ago.
We heard the stories this summer: Sudfeld goes to the Manning Passing Academy, Sudfeld gets named to sundry award watch lists, Sudfeld speaks at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon.
“So what?” I thought. That doesn’t prove anything.
But the more you watch him, the more you understand: Sudfeld has the intangibles to be transcendent.
It’s in the way he carries himself: humble, but confident, in the same vein as his role model, Andrew Luck.
It’s in the things he says: mostly, everything right.
And it was evident when the quarterback addressed the media Monday, his final time at the podium before the Hoosiers take the field against Southern Illinois University on Saturday.
A new beginning, but also, the beginning of the end.
Before Sudfeld went down in 2014, the offense was inconsistent.
We saw it in a collapse against MAC opponent Bowling Green and again in a shutdown against Maryland, a sorry loss on the heels of IU’s biggest upset in 27 years.
“We were a little bit complacent,” Sudfeld said. “We kind of just believed it would happen because we were the Indiana offense.”
This season, Sudfeld is dialed in with his receiving corps, a rapport and focus sophomore Ricky Jones said is better than any he’s seen his quarterback play with before.
If Sudfeld is worried about putting his last ride in the hands of a young perimeter — on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball — he doesn’t show it.
The quarterback even went as far as to call the secondary, seen by many as the team’s Achilles heel, a strength.
In fact, Sudfeld had plenty of praise for his freshman teammates, echoing IU Coach Kevin Wilson’s statements that they are some of the most skilled athletes on roster.
In a lot of ways, Sudfeld was ill-prepared to be IU’s torchbearer in 2014. Always part of a tandem, he had to switch gears in two months to become not only the starter — but the guy.
The injury to his non-throwing shoulder, his spring break trip to Uganda, the hours he spent in facilities, around his teammates, studying and rehabbing, these were instrumental to his development as a leader.
Now, he is not only ready to be face of the Hoosiers, he is the best person to bring IU football back to respectability, and — dare I say — repute.
We can’t yet assess the abilities of Nate Sudfeld, the football player. But there is visible evidence to suggest greatness in Nate Sudfeld, the person — and at the quarterback position, the two are inextricable.
Those who surround him closely believe. You can count me as one of the believers.
vziege@indiana.edu
