Jack’s Take: How Much Will Kurtis Rourke’s Injury Affect Indiana?

Indiana is fortunate after quarterback Kurtis Rourke’s injury to have a backup like Tayven Jackson, a well-balanced roster and quarterback-friendly coaching staff.

Jack Ankony | Oct 21, 2024

Indiana quarterbacks Tayven Jackson (2) and Kurtis Rourke (9) throw during fall camp. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Quarterback injuries can ruin a season and sometimes negatively affect a program’s long-term trajectory.

Indiana is familiar with that from former quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s four season-ending injuries. A 13-0 Florida State team was left out of the College Football Playoffs last season, in large part because of an injury to quarterback Jordan Travis. In the NFL, playoff and Super Bowl hopes can be dashed in an instant if the player at the most important position goes down.

Those nightmares may have hit some Indiana fans Saturday, when Hoosier quarterback Kurtis Rourke stood on the sideline in street clothes and a wrap around his injured right thumb as he sat out the entire second half against Nebraska.

Rourke, a 6-foot-5, sixth-year senior transfer from Ohio University, has been one of the nation’s best this year. He ranks second among starting quarterbacks with a 74.6% completion percentage and second in ESPN’s adjusted total quarterback rating. His 1,941 passing yards are 13th most in the nation, despite ranking 65th in pass attempts. Pro Football Focus gives Rourke the highest passing grade in the nation, 91.7, among qualified quarterbacks.

All of that has helped Indiana become the nation’s highest-scoring offense at 48.7 points per game, start 7-0 for the first time since 1967 in coach Curt Cignetti’s first season, and attract ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show to Bloomington for Saturday’s game against Washington.

Rourke won’t play on Saturday, but Cignetti said Monday he expects Rourke to return during the regular season. The program announced Sunday that Rourke will be out for an indefinite period of time.

“He hit his thumb on, I believe, a helmet and a nail kind of came off,” Cignetti said Saturday.

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) passes against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Losing Rourke for any time certainly hurts. But it’s not devastating, and it doesn’t wipe away Indiana’s chances of having a historic season – like winning 10 games for the first time or reaching the College Football Playoff in late December, when it sounds like Rourke should be back, if the Hoosiers make it there. ESPN gives them a 63.8% chance for Indiana to make the playoffs, eighth-highest in the nation.

That’s because Indiana is an incredibly well-rounded team that has the pieces for Tayven Jackson, who’s talented in his own right, to sustain its success.

“We have 100% confidence and the team has 100% confidence, I have confidence, the staff has confidence in Tayven Jackson,” Cignetti said Monday. “I thought he played really well in the second half.”

We saw that during Saturday’s 56-7 win over Nebraska, whose defense entered the game allowing just 11.3 points per game. With Rourke under center, Indiana led 28-7 going into halftime. Jackson replaced him for the entire second half, and the Hoosiers outscored the Cornhuskers 28-0.

Jackson completed 7 of 8 passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns, and he picked up 21 yards on two rushes. His lone incompletion came on the first drop of the season by an Indiana wide receiver on a well-placed 3rd-and-3 pass, which should have been an easy first-down conversion and potentially a huge gain.

One of the most impressive throws of the game was Jackson’s touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt in the corner of the end zone. He may be more of a running threat than Rourke, too. And overall, Cignetti saw improvement from Jackson against Nebraska.

“I think you see it during the games when he gets his opportunity, how he's responded, how he responded on Saturday,” Cignetti said. “He's a year older. It's a different offense. It's a different system. Tino does a great job of developing the quarterbacks. He's got excellent potential, and he's gotten better. Now he's got an opportunity. He's got to take it and run with it.”

What a catch‼️ What a throw‼️ 🗣️

Tayven Jackson & Elijah Sarratt's sweet @IndianaFootball TD connection is our Week 8 #B1GFootball 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠.

📍 @OldTrapper pic.twitter.com/4oQids3CTn
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 21, 2024

Appearing as a backup this season against Western Illinois, Charlotte and Nebraska, the 6-foot-4 Jackson has completed 12 of 18 passes for 225 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions He’s rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown on six attempts.

That in-game experience, most notably in the second half against what had been a strong Nebraska defense, is important for Jackson as he steps into the starting role.

“And played well, right?” Cignetti said. “... We always talk about the next man up. Everybody's here for a reason, right. Because in this sport, you're going to have injuries at every single position. It's a lot different when you're the starter, right. I'm sure [Jackson] was excited about it. The team rallied around him at halftime, and we outscored them 28-0 in the second half.”

The younger brother of Indiana basketball All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jackson was once a highly touted recruit out of Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind. He was rated as a four-star recruit and the nation’s No. 12 quarterback in the class of 2022 by 247Sports.

After playing sparingly as a freshman at Tennessee, he transferred to Indiana under former head coach Tom Allen. When he visited for a basketball game and soon after committed, there was plenty of excitement about his potential.

His redshirt freshman season with the Hoosiers produced mixed results. Jackson’s 18-for-21 passing performance against Indiana State was a good starting point, though it came against a far inferior opponent. He threw for 299 yards the following week in a narrow loss to Louisville, the eventual ACC runner-up. His mobility gave defenses real problems at times, and he clearly had a strong arm.

But against Akron, Jackson completed just 42.3% of his passes, threw an interception and was sacked three times. The Hoosiers needed four overtime periods to sneak away with a two-point win at home against a team that went just 2-10 last season.

Struggles against Maryland the following week led to a mid-game quarterback change to Brendan Sorsby. Jackson split time with Sorsby against Michigan, too, but he threw two interceptions and did not play in the Hoosiers’ final six games.

Kurtis Rourke, Tayven Jackson Indiana Football

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Tayven Jackson (2) walks with suarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) after beating Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. / Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

There are a few reasons to be more optimistic about Jackson this time around, starting with what he’s experienced over the last 10 months or so since Cignetti took over. Jackson has been surrounded by a smart, veteran quarterback in Rourke and a group of coaches who’ve been especially successful with quarterbacks.

“I saw [Rourke and Jackson] supporting one another during the [Nebraska] game. The way Kurtis prepares and practices, he's a good role model for the younger quarterbacks,” Cignetti said. “Everybody needs a role model, right? So he'll be on the sideline Saturday. He'll be a plus.”

One of the reasons Indiana hired Cignetti was because of his history with quarterbacks. During Cignetti’s first season coaching James in 2019, quarterback Ben DiNucci was named 2019 CAA Offensive Player of the Year. Quarterback Cole Johnson won the same award in 2021. And when James Madison moved up from the FCS to the FBS, quarterback Todd Centeio earned 2022 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Last season, Jordan McCloud was the Sun Belt Player of the Year. Each of those quarterbacks played a different style, but Cignetti showed adaptability alongside offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri, who came with Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana.

“I think offensively we do a nice job in terms of our system, giving the quarterback answers,” Cignetti said. “Every play's got an answer. We build the offense around the quarterback. I mean, the last four have been Player of the Year in the league, and the previous two were one-year transfers that only had moderate success at the places they'd been in the past. One was a dual, one was a pocket guy, two were in between. I just think we do a nice job developing quarterbacks. It's a group effort, team effort.”

The current Indiana staff has a far stronger track record with quarterbacks than the previous staff, an obvious benefit for Jackson. Sunseri is in his first year as Indiana’s quarterbacks coach.

In addition to his success at James Madison, he previously worked at Alabama under Nick Saban and Steve Sarkisian, as well as Tennessee and Florida State.

“[Sunseri] is a really good quarterback coach,” Cignetti said Monday. “Has great relationships with those guys, student of the game, communicates really well. … Since Tino has been here, I think he's taken those guys to another level.”

Indiana quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri during fall camp. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

That showed up in the spring game. Jackson led Indiana on two straight touchdown drives in his first two series. He ran into trouble later on, but finished the game completing 10 of 14 passes (71.4%) for 160 yards, touchdown and an interception.

Jackson then had the entire summer and fall camp to continue working on his game, a process Cignetti discussed before the season.

“Tayven is capable of making the wow play, but there has to be more play-in, play-out consistency, eye discipline, focus, eyes down field, making the right reads, securing the football, not turning the ball over, proper footwork in the run game so we don’t have fumbles, things of that nature," Cignetti said in August.

Following Saturday’s win over Nebraska, Cignetti said that Jackson has to practice better, though being the backup quarterback is difficult because they get limited snaps in practice and there are many variables week to week with the game plan and opponent.

One of the biggest changes for Jackson this week is that practice will be more heavily geared toward him as the starter. Cignetti said Jackson will get more repetitions this week, which will help him prepare for the game.

The other stark contrast in Jackson’s second year with the Hoosiers is an improved roster around him. Indiana’s offensive line has been a strength this year, most recently controlling what most considered a stingy Nebraska defensive front. The Hoosiers rank 11th nationally in PFF’s run-blocking grade (77.3) and 15th in its pass-blocking grade (81.9). Last year, Indiana ranked 62nd and 103rd in those categories.

Indiana has a strong run game and talented wide receivers to support Jackson, too. Indiana, which frequently rotates three or four running backs each game, ranks 23rd in rushing yards per game (202.4) and tied for 23rd in yards per carry (5.1).

Indiana quarterback Tayven Jackson (2) passes against Nebraska at Memorial Stadium. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt both rank in the top 25 in PFF’s receiving grade. Several other receivers like Miles Cross, Ke’Shawn Williams, Myles Price and tight end Zach Horton have consistently made plays for the Hoosiers this year, both catching the ball and blocking on the outside.

Everything is not on Jackson or the offense’s shoulders moving forward. Indiana’s defense has also played a key role in its success. It forced four turnovers in Saturday’s win over Nebraska, and it made Maryland’s 4-0 advantage in turnovers irrelevant a few weeks ago. Through seven games, it ranks seventh in points allowed per game (13.7) and yards allowed per game (262.6).

From the coaching staff to a well-rounded roster that has dominated every opponent so far, Jackson steps into an ideal situation as Indiana’s starting quarterback. He’s set up for success, and his own development and skill set are reasons to believe Indiana can keep its undefeated season alive.

There’s uncertainty around how long Rourke will be out, and Indiana would certainly like to have him back when it plays Michigan and Ohio State in a few weeks. But in the meantime, Jackson as the starter should not create any panic.

“He's a guy that's extremely capable, extremely capable,” Cignetti said. “And I'm sure he'll rise to the occasion.”

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