Four Indiana football starting offensive linemen enter transfer portal in one day

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football's offensive line will undergo a massive overhaul next season after four of the team's five starters entered the transfer portal on Monday.

Starting right guard Matthew Bedford, right tackle Kahlil Benson, center Zach Carpenter and left tackle Carter Smith all announced on social media they planned to enter the portal.

The Hoosiers had 17 players enter the transfer portal in less than 48 hours after the school fired head coach Tom Allen. The list also includes starting quarterback Brendan Sorsby, leading receiver Donaven McCulley and leading rusher Trent Howland.

More: Indiana football standout safety Phillip Dunnam entering transfer portal

The fall window for FBS football players to enter their names into the portal runs from Dec. 4 to Jan. 2, 2024.

Benson and Carpenter are entering the transfer portal as grad transfers, but Benson and Smith both have multiple years of eligibility left.

Smith was the second highest rated signee in IU's 2022 signing class as a four-start prospect out of Olentangy Liberty in Ohio. He was the No. 207 overall ranked prospect, according to 247 Sports Composite rankings.

"I want to thank the Indiana coaching staff and the university for the opportunity to make an impact," Smith wrote on X. "I especially want to thank coach Carey and coach Bostad for teaching me to be a better player and to coach Allen for teaching me to be a better man."

"After conversations with my family, and the current situation, I feel it is in my best interest to enter the portal at this time and keep all options open with three years of eligibility left."

He had an impressive list of 26 scholarship offers including ones from Tennessee, Auburn, and Louisville.

The 6-foot-5, 305-pounder will generate plenty of interest after starting 12 games as a redshirt freshman. He earned the highest rated overall grade, 68.6, for Indiana's starting linemen from Pro Football Focus. He played 797 snaps and allowed 19 pressures (on 439 pass block snaps).

Benson was a two-year starter for Indiana with experience at both right guard and right tackle. He played 1,423 snaps over the last two seasons and gave up a team-high 37 quarterback playing at tackle in 2023.

The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder was a three-star signee out of Southaven High School (Mississippi) in the 2020 signing class. He had 11 scholarship offers including ones from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky and LSU.

Bedford was the longest tenured of the group after signing with IU back in 2019. He started eight games at left tackle as a true freshman and was named the team's newcomer of the year. He showed off his versatility in the years that followed by spending time at right guard (16 starts), left guard (three starts) and right tackle (one start).

He suffered a torn ACL in the 2022 season-opener, but was fully cleared over the summer and started all 12 games in 2023.

"Thank you to Hoosier Nation for your tremendous support over my 5 years playing football at Indiana University," Bedford wrote on X. "It has been a pleasure to represent you, the fans."

"To all my former and present coaches here at IU, I appreciate your help in my grown and development as a person and player. To my teammates, the friendships that I have made here will last a lifetime. To coach Tom Allen, thank you and your staff for investing in my development as a young man. LEO is a way of life."

"With that being said, I am excited to announce that I have entered the transfer portal as an eligible grad transfer."

Indiana has 11 scholarship offensive linemen left on the roster including freshman Austin Barrett, redshirt sophomore Joshua Sales Jr. and TCU transfer Noah Bolticoff.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 4 Indiana football starting offensive linemen enter the transfer portal