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Say what? Joey Galloway thinks benching Kurtis Rourke to avoid injury is best-case to keep Indiana football in CFP field

ESPN analyst Joey Galloway thinks Indiana football should sit Kurtis Rourke to avoid injury and cement its spot in the CFP field.

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ESPN analyst Joey Galloway thinks Indiana football should sit Kurtis Rourke to avoid injury and cement its spot in the CFP field. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)

The newest College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night and once again, didn’t come without controversy. That controversy? Yes, surrounding Indiana football.

As it has for the majority of the back half of the season, Indiana football has been one of the main discussion points surrounding the 12-team playoff. Despite its undefeated record and dominant fashion in which its won this year, doubters persist.

One of those is ESPN analyst Joey Galloway — who has been extremely anti-Indiana during every rankings show this season.

On Tuesday, however, he went in a direction nobody thought could happen — he suggested benching quarterback Kurtis Rourke ahead of IU’s matchup with Ohio State this weekend.

“Honestly, if we believe in what our metrics are saying — if I’m Indiana, I don’t know if I’m playing (Kurtis) Rourke against Ohio State,” Galloway said. “We’ve seen what happened to Florida State last year with Jordan Travis. What can keep Indiana out of this? Get your quarterback hurt.”

While Galloway was very emphatic earlier in Tuesday’s show that you can’t and shouldn’t be comparing teams in 2024 to that of 2023 — when Booger McFarland was comparing IU’s resume this year to that of Michigan in 2023 — he decided to bring into play the Florida State Seminoles of 2023 and the committee’s decision to leave the Seminoles out of the 4-team playoff last year after quarterback Jordan Travis broke his leg.

Indiana, who is 10-0, is heading into a top-5 showdown with No. 2 Ohio State this weekend — clearly the best opponent on IU’s schedule this season.

Indiana stayed at No. 5 overall in the rankings and the 7-seed in the playoff seeding, set to host a first round game against Ole Miss.

While Indiana has consistently been one of the most dominant teams in the country, regardless of its schedule, Galloway doubled-down on his opinion that keeping Rourke off of the field on Saturday is the way to keep the Hoosiers in the CFP field.

“If I am Indiana, I am protecting my quarterback,” he added.

SEE ALSO: ‘They have it all. They really do’: Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti recognizes the challenge that Ohio State presents heading into Saturday’s matchup

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Alec Lasley is the owner of Hoosier Illustrated, a comprehensive site covering news, updates and recruiting for Indiana University athletics. Alec has covered Indiana for six years and is a credentialed media member. He has previously worked for both Rivals and 247Sports.

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