What Quarterback Kurtis Rourke Said After Indiana's 20-15 Win Over Michigan

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke was happy the Hoosiers won and improved to 10-0, but he said there are things to improve moving forward.

Indiana's Kurtis Rourke (9) passes to Justice Ellison (6) against Michigan at Memorial Stadium. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – No. 8 Indiana secured the first 10-win season in program history Saturday night at Memorial Stadium with a 20-15 win over Michigan.

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards, two touchdowns and an interceptions. Here's everything Kurtis Rourke said in his postgame press conference.

On the big-picture meaning of Indiana's first 10-win season...

Rourke: "It's awesome. The atmosphere today, the fan base, how the town has kind of surrounded our team and just encouraged it, it's awesome to go out here and play and win games for this community. We know they have our backs, and we're just gonna try to continue to keep this going."

On importance of facing a real challenge...

Rourke: "Yeah, you obviously don't want games to go down to the last possession, but they're gonna come up. Our defense played exceptional throughout the whole game and really came up with a good stop at the end, and we were able to get that first down. So it's just those situations that we practice for and knew were gonna come up eventually. We just had to execute and we did."

On how he splits the first half and second half performances...

Rourke: "Yeah, I mean we were going against a really good defense. So that first half we had to be near perfect, made some good reads and some big catches, some big runs. In the second half it didn't go our way. In the second half, we didn't make those same plays, games like this against teams like this and defenses like those, we gotta make those plays. So that's definitely something we're gonna have to improve on and continue to work on the rest of the year."

On what Michigan was doing defensively to give Indiana problems in the second half...

Rourke: "It was a lot of what they've been doing, so we knew that they were going to run the coverages and have different thought processes throughout the game. But hats off to them for containing and shortening the field in drives that we had. So they did a good job, but at the same time we can definitely fix things on our own."

On the difficulty of playing without starting left guard Drew Evans...

Rourke: "It's huge. Drew's one of my favorite guys on the team, big piece of the o-line. He's one of the hardest workers that I know, so losing a guy like that definitely hurts, but it's always been next man up. Tyler Stephens has been a guy that everyone loves as well, stepped up to that role and did a great job and we'll continue to lean on him and the rest of the offensive line."

On what it means for Indiana to win a close game against a good team after many blowout wins this season...

Rourke: "I mean, these are games that really test you as a team, see if you can hang on, you can win those tight games. We knew eventually that we'd come to a game where it would be close and we would see what we were made of. So I'm really glad proud of how we handled it. Again, our defense stepped up in big times and just continue to build on this, because it's another big moment we got for this season."

On how his thumb felt Saturday...

Rourke: "It wasn't too bad, yeah. It was alright."

On if his thumb affected his passing ability at all...

Rourke: "No. I'll be good."

On how his thumb felt throughout the week leading up to the game...

Rourke: "I had a full practice week, so it was wearing on me a little bit. But I had no issues going into today, had an off-day yesterday. So yeah, I feel 100% going into the rest of the year."

On if his thumb has gotten progressively better with time, or if he has to learn to play with discomfort...

Rourke: "Yeah, it's gotten better every single day. Still gotta learn to play with discomfort. I went without the glove today, or this week. So it'll continue to progress, but it's also just adjusting as well. But nice to have a bye week and another full week to prep for the next game so I have no issues with the thumb moving forward."

On taking a step back and reflecting on Indiana's 10-0 start...

Rourke: "Yeah, a little bit. But practicing and going through this whole year since January, getting to know the guys, having a vision of what we had, I really felt confident that we could make some noise and have a special season this year. So it's not necessarily a surprise, but you love to be 10-0. That's the goal starting at the beginning of the year, win every game. And we're just gonna keep rolling."

On having a week off after a physical game...

Rourke: "It's gonna be good. I know we got a couple guys banged up, so good to get their bodies back, have not just a physical break but a mental break before we head into the final stretch."

On the benefit of having two bye weeks in a season...

Rourke: "Like you said, it's a physical game, so being able to bounce back and have a week to adjust and heal up, it's huge, especially going into a big week the following week against Ohio State. That will be a good test, so being fully healthy is gonna be really important. So just lucky with the schedule for sure."

On if Michigan's pressure or coverage had a bigger affect on Indiana's offense in the second half...

Rourke: "I think a little bit of everything. Definitely got some pressure, but definitely I need to have a couple better eyes, as well. So it's all around. Offense just needs to get better. They didn't do anything too crazy on defense, a lot of what we expected. But nothing more than we had seen all season, so I need to do a better job of seeing it better, getting the ball out and not having to put the stress on the offensive line for as long as I did sometimes."

On the feeling of being 10-0 and beating the defending national champions but still wanting to play better...

Rourke: "Yeah, it's just a team that all the players are chasing perfection and know that no matter what, there's gonna be a little bit we can improve on, a little bit to learn. You get to the end of the season like this, 10 games in and you're still learning. We're gonna go in Monday and say congrats on the win, good job, we beat the defending champions. I mean, they're a hell of a defense, but we can get a little better too. So that's encouraging, knowing that we didn't just put our best game out there. We still got some growth and stuff, so it's encouraging."

On his first down run at the end of the game...

Rourke: "Yeah, I just wanted to get the first down, and I knew that was the game. I had a feeling that they would come off the edge, so just happy that it worked out like that and just clinch the game on offense. I could have left it with the halfback."