There are no guaranteed roster spots in college football. But at Indiana, it appears that the Hoosiers have settled on a starting quarterback pretty early.

It’s no surprise that Michael Penix Jr., who was Indiana’s starting quarterback in 2019 before sustaining injuries, will enter the season as No. 1 on the depth chart. The official Twitter account of Indiana football tweeted out that Penix was the “QB1” on Tuesday afternoon.

Penix landed the starting job for the Hoosiers before the first week of the season in 2019. But because of injuries, he was unable to complete the season, putting Peyton Ramsey in the spotlight down the stretch. Penix offered something new to IU’s offense, with a much better ability to stretch the field.

In seven games last season, Penix completed 110-of-160 pass attempts for 1,394 yards and 10 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions. He also rushed for 119 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 22 carries.

The Hoosiers finished the season with an 8-5 record and were at one point ranked the Associated Press Poll following a 7-2 start. They also came close to winning their first bowl game in decades, but came up a point short to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl.

Indiana is going through a major change offensively with Kalen DeBoer departing after one season as the offensive coordinator. DeBoer landed the head coaching job at Fresno State, and head coach Tom Allen named Nick Sheridan the next OC for the Hoosiers.

While that will certainly come with some challenges, having Penix under center should help with the transition.