Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said Monday he is still “optimistic” that starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke can return to play in Saturday’s game at Michigan State.
Rourke had surgery on his injured right thumb last Monday and missed last weekend’s 31-17 win over Washington.
The 13th-ranked Hoosiers (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) are tied with No. 1 Oregon for the top spot in the conference. No. 3 Penn State is also among the eight unbeaten teams but has played one fewer conference game.
Rourke, a Canadian in his sixth year of college football, transferred from Ohio University to Indiana this season after dealing with injuries during the 2023 season with the Bobcats.
He also suffered a season-ending knee injury late in 2022 but was still named the Mid-American Conference’s MVP. The thumb injury that took Rourke out at halftime of a 56-7 victory over Nebraska doesn’t seem likely to keep him out for much longer.
“Optimistic on Kurtis Rourke, he’s thrown the last few days, building up,” said Cignetti, who is the first FBS coach to have back-to-back 8-0 starts at different schools.
“(His) workload will increase as the week goes on. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
If Rourke is unable to play, third-year quarterback Tayven Jackson would make his second straight start. Jackson completed 11 of 19 passes for 124 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, and also ran for a score as Indiana matched the 1967 Rose Bowl team for the best start in program history.
Indiana could achieve a 9-0 record for the first time by defeating the Spartans (4-4, 2-3) and winning the Old Bass Spittoon.
Cignetti believes the Hoosiers will be in good shape, no matter who is the starting quarterback.
“There was good and bad,” Cignetti said when asked about Jackson. “He’s got to build on the good and eliminate the bad. He’ll have a good film session with Coach (Tino) Sunseri (Monday) evening. Like everybody else, better, worse, never stay the same — need to be better.”
