Kurtis Rourke injury update: Indiana provides latest on ailing quarterback

Indiana football announced Sunday that redshirt senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke will be sidelined for an “indefinite period of time” with a thumb injury that he suffered this weekend in a 56-7 win over Nebraska.

That said, the program’s brief release also noted that Rourke is “expected to return in 2024.”

Rourke sustained the injury on the follow through of a pass attempt in the second quarter of the now-No. 13 Hoosiers’ statement-making rout of the 5-2 Cornhuskers.

The FOX Sports broadcast showed Rourke’s hand bleeding. Even though the Ohio University transfer ultimately remained in the game for Indiana’s final offensive series of the first half — on which he threw a Hail Mary interception — he didn’t play a second-half snap.

FOX Sports sideline reporter Jenny Taft said coming out of halftime that Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti told her Rourke’s thumb was “fine,” but backup quarterback Tayven Jackson trotted into the game for the Hoosiers’ first drive of the second half.

Jackson, the lone returning quarterback from Indiana’s 2023 roster, completed 7-of-8 passes for 91 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Hoosiers turned a 28-7 halftime lead into a 56-7 win.

“He played well,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said of Jackson, “but he still has to practice better. It’s hard to be the second-string quarterback. We put in a lot of new stuff each week. He did a good job. The team has confidence in him.”

Rourke — who went 17-of-21 for 189 yards, a touchdown and that half-ending pick — was in an Indiana sweatsuit on the sideline in the third and fourth quarters.

He was playing so well against Nebraska — a continuation of his hot start this season — that FOX Sports play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson even declared that Rourke “has to be in contention for the Heisman Trophy.”

Missing time will make it more difficult for the sixth-year quarterback to really establish himself in the Heisman conversation. But his impact on a still-undefeated and transfer-heavy Indiana team is undeniable.

Rourke entered this weekend with 1,752 passing yards — in other words, 292 passing yards per game, at the time the second most of any Big Ten quarterback this season — and a 14:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

He’s already earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors twice. The Oakville, Ontario, native has turned in a trio of 300-yard passing games so far.

Rourke arrived in Bloomington having made 33 career starts at Ohio, where he piled up 61 total touchdowns (50 passing, 11 rushing) and only 16 interceptions across five seasons. He was the MAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2022. Depending on how long he’ll be sidelined this season, he could have a shot at winning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2024.

For now, the attention turns to Jackson, who will have to quarterback the upstart Hoosiers this week against Washington.