Indiana football to be without quarterback Kurtis Rourke for ‘indefinite period of time’ following thumb injury

Indiana football put together another dominant win on Saturday as it cruised to a 56-7 victory over Nebraska. But, the first bit of injury concern did pop up for the Hoosiers during the win.

Quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who played the entire first half for IU, was grimacing and flexing his hand as he left the field to head into the locker room at the end of the second quarter. He did not return after halftime, as backup Tayven Jackson was under center.

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti addressed the injury postgame.

“He hit a thumb on a helmet, nail kind of came off,” Cignetti said of Rourke. “We’ll know more tomorrow. But optimistic.”

On Sunday, however, ESPN analyst Pete Thamel reported that the IU signal caller would miss next week’s game against Washington.

“Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke is not expected to play this week against Washington because of a thumb injury in the Nebraska game,” Thamel said. “He will return this season, but the timetable isn’t clear yet.”

That was later confirmed by the program, announcing that Rourke “will be out an indefinite period of time with a thumb injury but is expected to return in 2024”.

Rourke was 17-of-21 and threw for 189 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the first half on Saturday.

On the season, Rourke has thrown for 1,941 yards with 15 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He’s completing 74.6 percent of his passes this year.

“I thought he played really well,” Cignetti said of Rourke’s first half. “Made plays. Ran a little bit, too. The wideouts made some catches. He threw some nice balls on those back shoulders, and those wideouts made some real nice catches.”

Tayven Jackson came in and led Indiana to 28 points in the second half and was 7-of-8 for 91 yards and threw for two touchdowns.

“I thought he played well his first opportunity at home. Second opportunity at home okay. Guy still has to practice better. It’s hard to be the second-string quarterback because you don’t get many reps,” Cignetti said of Jackson. “We put a lot of new stuff in in the pass game week to week. You look at the variables in terms of their coverages and defenses, right?

“But I thought he went in there and did a good job. I had confidence. Team had confidence. I was proud of him.”

Indiana football — now 7-0 and expected to move up from its 16th overall ranking in the AP Poll — scored 40+ points for the sixth-straight time this season, extending its program record. It is also the seventh-straight double-digit win for the Hoosiers.

“It doesn’t matter who’s out there,” IU wideout Miles Cross said. “We are going to play to win, no matter what. It’s always the next man up mentality, and that’s the standard that we are required to have going into any game. If anybody goes down, we have to be ready for some else to step in and make those plays.”

SEE ALSO: ‘It motivated us to play fast’: Indiana football fans tie together 56-7 win over Nebraska, showcasing the big picture of this team

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