Indiana Had A Plan To Get Kurtis Rourke Ready To Play And It Worked

Kurtis Rourke is still not completely healthy, but he and the Indiana athletic training staff did what they had to do to get him ready.

Indiana's Kurtis Rourke, left, hands the ball off to Ty Son Lawton during the second quarter on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

EAST LANSING, Mich. – After Indiana’s 47-10 victory over Michigan State, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke admitted that he thought his thumb injury – a break as he told the media after the game – was going to keep him out for longer than it did.

“They took an X-ray. Again, I still thought it was the fingernail because I had never broken anything in my hand before. It wasn’t until that point, though. I thought (the time missed) was going to be longer, but I was really lucky on how it turned out,” Rourke said.

As it turned out, Indiana was able to get Rourke practicing early in the week, and the determination was made relatively early that Indiana would try to play him against the Spartans.

“I think I knew early Monday, maybe Tuesday that he’d be able to start. Every day got better from the previous day in terms of his zip, execution and accuracy,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said.

It was a process.

Rourke had a splint on his fingernail to protect it from contact. Rourke said his thumb is still swollen from the injury he suffered against Nebraska on Oct. 19, but one trick helped him achieve the grip he wanted and the comfort level he desired.

“I had a couple of things. I had a splint to cover my nail for prevention of anything bending back. Then I cut off a glove to cover my thumb for extra grip,” Rourke said.

“I tried to think of ways to properly throw and everything. My thumb is pretty swollen, and still is, so I needed a last little bit of grip. I needed something that was sticky enough that I could play with, but not inhibit throwing the ball as well,” Rourke added.

Part of Rourke’s ability to play came from his desire to do so. It would have been an easy choice to be careful and try to wait a week to play, but the Ohio University transfer quarterback wanted to be on the field.

Still, Rourke knew he couldn’t make a rash decision. Throughout the week, he had to ask himself whether he was trying too hard or just right to make the team better with him playing.

“It was every day and multiple times a day being honest with the coaching staff, the trainers, but more important, myself,” Rourke said. “The biggest thing I wanted to do was not put the team in jeopardy. Obviously, (Tayven Jackson) has done a great job, he did a great job last week, I knew the team would be in great hands.”

 “I wanted to make sure I was at my best to be able to go and help the team before anything else. And then slowly progress and see how I was feeling each day,” Rourke added.

Cignetti said that he also had to put his trust in Rourke. The quarterback position is so important in terms of the tone it sets for everyone on the team. Cignetti knows that, and his decision-making process was influenced accordingly.

Cignetti was asked when he made a final decision on whether to play Rourke.

“When I decided at some point to believe in our team, which is what you’ve got to do as the head coach and leader,” Cignetti said. “You have to believe in our team and attack, attack, attack and they’ll feed off of that.”

Rourke was hurt on a throw to E.J. Williams in the Nebraska game. He initially thought it was a fingernail problem given that he bled after the injury. He initially played through it for the remainder of the first half, but a X-ray at halftime revealed a break.

“It broke on impact. I thought it was a nail because it was bleeding so much. It ended up just being the bone and when it broke it messed (the nail) up. It was a lot of pain, but I’ve played through fingernail issues before,” Rourke said.

Rourke noted that he was in pain during Saturday’s game against Michigan State. Whatever pain he was in, he managed it well. Rourke completed 19 of 29 passes for 263 yards and four touchdown passes.

“I had some things (before the game) that minimized the pain to start the game. It was definitely sore with every throw, but I knew it was going to come and it was something to play through. You don’t get a chance to play football a lot,” Rourke said.

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