Indiana’s 2024 season may have come to a close at the hands of No. 7 seed Notre Dame, 27-17, in the College Football Playoff first round. Given what was revealed about QB Kurtis Rourke on Friday, it is amazing the Hoosiers even got to that point.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, it’s believed Rourke, a 2025 NFL Draft prospect, tore his ACL in August, per his agent Casey Muir at Octagon Football.
Rourke is scheduled to undergo surgery next week to repair the tear in his right knee. That is the same injury Rourke suffered during the 2022 season at Ohio.
Considering Indiana won a program-record 11 games (11-2) and made its first College Football Playoff appearance, Rourke’s effort was nothing short of remarkable.
Rourke passed for 3,042 yards, 29 TDs and only five interceptions. His QBR (85.2) was fifth in the country.
In the Hoosiers’ two games against stiffer competition, Rourke went 8-of-18 for 68 yards in a loss to Ohio State. He was 20-of-33 for 215 yards with two TDs and one interception in the season-ending loss to the Fighting Irish.
Aside from those two subpar performances, Rourke led his team to the best season it has ever experienced in head coach Curt Cignetti’s first season in Bloomington.
When Rourke first tore his ACL at Ohio in 2022, he was still named 2022 MAC Player of the Year. This season with Indiana, Rourke was a second-team All-Big Ten selection.
As of now, Rourke is projected as the No. 6 QB prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
Indiana may have fallen short in the College Football Playoff. However, it is hard not to be amazed by Rourke’s toughness throughout the season just to get the Hoosiers there.
