Reports Say Indiana QB Will Miss Game with UW

Kurtis Rourke injured a thumb in the Hoosiers' 56-7 win over Nebraska.

Indiana's Kurtis Rourke (9) passes against Nebraska on Saturday before he got hurt. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After injuring the thumb on his throwing hand, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, off to a sensational start for the rejuvenated and unbeaten Hoosiers, is expected to miss Saturday's game against the University of Washington football team, according to multiple news sources.

The 6-foot-5, 231-pound Rourke, a sixth-year senior, Canadian native and University of Ohio transfer, hurt his thumb on a first-half passing attempt against Nebraska and didn't play following halftime in a game then 16th-ranked Indiana won 56-7 -- to improve to 7-0 for the first time since 1967, 4-0 in Big Ten play.

TV footage showed Rourke with his injured thumb bloodied and heavily wrapped after he completed 17 of 21 passes for 189 yards and a score to put the Hoosiers ahead 28-7 by intermission.

Pete Thamel of ESPN reported the quarterback is expected to miss at least one game before returning to new coach Curt Cignetti's lineup, with no clear timetable.

Hoosiers back-up Tayven Jackson, a 6-foot-4, 212-pound sophomore, is a logical replacement if Rourke doesn't play. He replaced the Hoosiers starter against Nebraska and led his team to four more touchdowns in the second half. He completed 7 of 8 passes for 91 yards and 2 scores.

Indiana's Tayven Jackson (2) gets loose before a game against Maryland. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jackson originally spent his freshman season at Tennessee before joining Indiana in 2023 and starting 5 games during the Hoosiers' 3-9 season that brought about a coaching change to James Madison's Cignetti. The new coach felt compelled to find another quarterback in Rourke, who was the MAC Offensive Player of the Year for Ohio in 2022.

If this top Indiana quarterback indeed sits out, the injury prevents a Will Rogers-Rourke match-up that would have been a battle of similar players.

Rourke, considered a possible Heisman Trophy candidate, has completed 135 of 181 passes for 1,941 yards and 15 TDs, with 3 interceptions, while Rogers, the Mississippi State transfer turned one-year Husky, has connected on 153 of 212 passes for 1,820 yards and 13 scores, with 2 interceptions.

Of course, the Huskies know all about Indiana quarterbacks these days after bringing former Hoosiers starter Michael Penix Jr. to Montlake for two seasons that included a Heisman bid and a national runner-up finish for the UW.

Two weeks ago, the Huskies faced Jack Tuttle, who was quarterbacking Michigan after previous stops at Utah and Indiana, backing up Penix while with the Hoosiers.

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