Indiana football quarterback Kurtis Rourke suffers hand injury against Nebraska

Posted by Admin October 19, 2024 Football

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football quarterback Kurtis Rourke didn’t come out with the team for the second half after suffering an apparent hand injury.

The FOX broadcast showed Rourke’s hand bleeding and sideline reporter Jenny Taft said it looked like the training staff taped down his nail. Rourke closed out the first half — he was 17 of 21 with 189 yard and an interception on a last second Hail Mary — but a couple of his attempts on the Hoosiers‘ final drive were a bit off target.

While Taft said Cignetti told her that Rourke was “fine” coming out of halftime, he wasn’t with the other quarterbacks warming up.

He was replaced by Tayven Jackson, the only holdover from IU’s quarterback room from the 2023 season. He came into the game after Nebraska threw an interception to Shawn Asbury II with 7:35 left in the third quarter. He completed his first pass attempt for a 16-yard gain to Miles Cross.

Indiana went into halftime leading 28-7 while putting up huge offensive numbers against a Nebraska team that had a top 15 defense coming into the game. The Hoosiers had 343 total yards at the half with 154 rushing yards (9.6 yard per carry) and six plays of 20-yards or more.

Rourke came into Saturday’s game with numbers that ranked among the best in the country in most major passing categories. Through IU’s first six games, he’s averaging 292.0 yards (No. 11 in the FBS) with a completion percentage of 73.8% (No. 3) and 14 touchdowns (tied for No. 13).This story will be updated

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.