‘Flush it’: Despite immense first quarter struggles, Kurtis Rourke ‘responded like I kind of felt like he would’ and led Indiana football to another big win

Undefeated Indiana football hosted its first home conference game of the season, a noon kickoff against Maryland. 

A tough scene was set for the undefeated Indiana team, with heavy winds and rain being expected to impact the playing field throughout most of the game.

The harsh playing conditions seemed to have made an impact early on for Indiana’s offensive play, as quarterback Kurtis Rourke threw interceptions in each of Indiana’s first two drives of the game. The two interceptions were Rourke’s first and second interceptions and turnovers of the season.

Despite Rourke’s difficult start to the game, he began to turn things around in the second quarter, finding Myles Price for a one yard touchdown to open up the quarter.

Rourke’s ability to not let a couple bad plays ruin his mindset was shown, as he quickly picked himself up.

“Trying to flush it right away and not really think about it,” Rourke said. “Kinda got to move on. Just like when you have a good play, you got to reset and be emotionally stable so that you can move forward, good or bad, that’s what I try to do.”

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti spoke on Rourke’s maturity as a player.

“He responded like I kind of felt like he would,” Cignetti added. “I didn’t think he would be flustered by the two interceptions and he wasn’t.”

Keeping his head held high, Rourke helped his team find the end zone five additional times throughout the game following Price’s touchdown. Rourke’s rapid adjustment to not get down on himself was clearly demonstrated in the team’s win.

Rourke went on to complete his next six passes after three straight incompletions, including the two interceptions. That then included 12 of his next 15 passes, including a touchdown.

Passing touchdowns in the second half to Omar Cooper Jr., Donaven McCulley and Elijah Sarratt assisted in Rourke’s 359 passing yard game, the most he’s had since November, 2022.

Rourke’s three passing touchdown game has him in the lead in Big Ten passing touchdowns, tied at 11 with Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr.

The way Indiana as a whole was able to turn the game around following a disastrous first quarter reflected how strong of a group the team is. Even with a 14 point win in a conference game, the team wasn’t happy with the end result, seeking improvements.

Rourke spoke on the capabilities he thought his offense should have reached during the game.

“Offensively, we feel like we can do much better,” Rourke said. “We could have put fifty, sixty, up today. We have a lot to build on, so we can’t be complacent, just got to chase for the next week.”

Rourke completed the game with 359 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, two interceptions, holding a completion rate of 66.7% while getting sacked three times.

Coach Cignetti felt a similar way to Rourke, citing that aside from the positives surrounding the conference win, there are areas of improvement for the team.

“I thought this was a good challenge for us and we outlasted them and we did a lot of good things. But you know there’s a lot of things we can do better.”

The rough start to the game ultimately created adversity for the entire Indiana team to play against.

Indiana defensive linemen James Carpenter explained how the team was built to overcome these types of challenges.

“That’s what this team is built on,” Carpenter said. “That’s what this program is about now… It’s just always about next play mentality. Coach Cig preaches that.”

Carpenter was a key performer on Indiana’s defensive line, totaling three tackles and sacking Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. twice. 

Carpenter transferred to Indiana for his senior season, playing his previous three seasons under Cignetti at James Madison University. In his time at JMU, Carpenter collected 105 total tackles, 9.5 sacks and two interceptions.

One of the veterans on the defensive line, Carpenter has made his mark thus far for Indiana, totaling nine tackles and three sacks. 

The 42-28 win over Maryland marks Indiana’s first 5-0 start as a program since 1967. The historic victory for Indiana raises the question of if the team will be ranked going into week six of college football.

Only time will tell, as Indiana will begin preparing to take on Northwestern on the road.

SEE ALSO: HoosierIllustrated Live Blog: FINAL: Indiana football 42, Maryland 28

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated, part of the Full Ride Network, on Twitter @Indiana_FRN, Facebook and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. You can also listen to the Talking’ Bout the Hoosiers podcast on Spotify.