In a fitting move, the Indiana Hoosiers have their first signal-caller of the Curt Cignetti era. Former Ohio QB Kurtis Rourke announced his commitment to the Hoosiers in a social media post, set to officially join the Indiana program for the 2024 season.
The fit with Rourke and Indiana couldn’t be any more perfect.
Kurtis Rourke Transfers to Indiana
Head coach Curt Cignetti took over the Indiana program just a handful of days ago and made quick work to assemble his first team for the Hoosiers. A key cog in that new-look team was the quarterback position.
MORE: College Football Transfer Portal Tracker
While Indiana may not have been able to draw the likes of perhaps a Cam Ward or a DJ Uiagalalei from the former Pac-12 schools, they certainly landed one of the biggest fish in the proverbial sea in Rourke.
Very excited to announce that I am committing to Indiana University for my final year of Eligibility! #GoHoosiers pic.twitter.com/lbeI0JFevx
— Kurtis Rourke (@Kurtis_rourke7) December 14, 2023
Set to fit perfectly into the Mike Shanahan offense, Rourke’s ceiling for the 2024 season is incredibly high.
Given their recent success with transfer portal quarterbacks at James Madison, it should be expected that Rourke could have a banner year.
Just look at their last two starting quarterbacks who entered the picture late in their careers:
Jordan McCloud
- JMU, 2023: 3,400 yards, 32 TDs, 9 INT (311 rush yards, 8 TDs)
- Arizona, 2021: 481 yards, 2 TDs, 5 INT (75 rush yards, 0 TDs)
- USF, 2020: 1,341 yards, 9 TDs, 2 INT (74 rush yards, 1 TDs)
- USF, 2019: 1,429 yards, 12 TDs, 8 INT (283 rush yards, 4 TDs)
Todd Centeio
- JMU, 2022: 2,697 yards, 25 TDs (393 rush yards, 7 TDs)
- Colorado State, 2021: 2,958 yards, 15 TDs, 10 INT (92 rush yards, 0 TD)
- Colorado State, 2020: 207 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (92 rush yards, 0 TD)
- Temple, 2019: 444 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT (155 rush yards, 0 TD)
- Temple, 2018: 149 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT (82 rush yards, 1 TD)
- Temple, 2017: 20 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (-2 rush yards, 0 TD)
Kurtis Rourke
- Ohio, 2023: 2,207 yards, 11 TD, 5 INT (219 rush yards, 4 TD)
- Ohio, 2022: 3,256 yards, 25 TD, 4 INT (249 rush yards, 4 TD)
- Ohio, 2021: 1,817 yards, 11 TD, 7 INT (327 rush yards, 3 TD)
- Ohio, 2020: 386 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT (17 rush yards, 0 TD)
- Ohio, 2019: 0 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT (20 rush yards, 0 TD)
Both previous quarterbacks joined after lengthy careers and went on to put up video-game-like numbers in the Cignetti-Shanahan offense. When you look at Rourke’s trajectory compared to both McCloud and Centeio, the picture paints a very pretty picture for the Hoosiers.
It’s a quarterback-friendly offense, and despite the increase in difficulty of a Big Ten schedule, it should be considered ripe for the picking for Rourke and Co. With their quarterback situation handled, the Indiana staff can now start to build out playmakers on the outside for Rourke to deploy.
Rourke’s place in the lineup should get those playmakers to start looking at Indiana with a sense of renewed enthusiasm for their prospects in 2024.