BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana's got a new signal caller heading into the 2024 season.
Ahead of this upcoming season, Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke has been given the keys to the offense as Indiana football enters a new era under head coach Curt Cignetti.
Ahead of his sixth season of college football, preview the former 2022 MAC Player of the Year's upcoming season with the cream and crimson.
2023 Season Recap
A season ago with the Bobcats, Rourke turned in yet another solid campaign. After lighting up the MAC in 2022 en route to winning the conference's Player of the Year award, Rourke saw a tad bit of regression in 2023.
The Oakville, Ontario native threw for 2,207 yards last season and completed 63.5% of his passes.
Rourke threw for 1,800 yards or more in all three of his seasons as the Bobcats' starting quarterback. The Hoosiers have had just one quarterback eclipse the 1,800 yard mark since 2019.
Rourke also tossed 11 touchdowns a year ago in his final season at Ohio. He was intercepted five times.
All five of Rourke's interceptions last season came in two games. Rourke threw two interceptions in a win at Florida Atlantic in September and was picked off three times in an October loss on the road against Northern Illinois.
The 6-foot-5, 222 pound Rourke is a pass-first quarterback, but he demonstrated an ability to escape the pocket and pickup yards with his legs last season.
Rourke carried the ball 67 times a year ago in Athens for just north of 200 yards. He found paydirt on the ground on four occasions in 2023 with the Bobcats.
The 2023 season for Rourke wasn't the best of his college career, but he once again put on full display his ability to lead a team to a bowl game through consistent play at the quarterback position.
2024 Season Outlook
This upcoming season, Rourke figures to be stepping into a role built perfectly for him to have success.
For starters, the new Hoosier coaching staff has had a tremendous amount of success with quarterbacks over the past few seasons.
In offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan's three years as the OC at James Madison, the Dukes' starting quarterback was named either the Sun Belt's Player of the Year or Offensive Player of the Year in each season.
Additionally, Tino Sunseri, Indiana's new quarterbacks coach, has developed the reputation for being almost a quarterback-whisperer. During Sunseri's three seasons coaching the quarterbacks with the Dukes, JMU's signal caller's averaged 3,400 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns a season.
Outside of working with a coaching staff known for its ability to develop quarterbacks, Rourke also has an extremely talented receiving corp to work with this upcoming season.
Donaven McCulley is back for another year after a strong close to the 2023 season. Add in first team All-Sun Belt receiver Elijah Sarratt from JMU, experienced Texas Tech transfer Myles Price and talented Wake Forest transfer Ke'Shawn Williams and its clear that this year's crop of wideouts for the Hoosiers is loaded.
Miles Cross, one of Rourke's favorite targets last season at Ohio, is also with Indiana this season and the Hoosiers have depth options in the wide receiving room in former four-star recruits Omar Cooper Jr. and E.J. Williams.
In a quarterback friendly offense, with a boatload of talent at receiver, Rourke is in a position to produce numbers that rival those from his 2022 campaign in which he was named the MAC Player of the Year.
From Cignetti
"He’s learning a lot of new plays, a lot of new terminology," Cignetti said at the beginning of spring practice. "He’s finding the open guy, getting them involved. But there’s still improvement that could be made there.”
"I think Kurtis Rourke has taken a pretty significant step," Cignetti added a few weeks later. "He just looks like he's more comfortable. The last two practices he's been functioning, looking like a high-level quarterback."
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