PASADENA, Calif. — Indiana football’s “Never Daunted” slogan is an appropriate one for a team with Kurtis Rourke at the helm.
The Hoosiers social media hashtag might as well be Rourke’s motto after the performance he had in a 42-13 win over UCLA on Saturday night. He went into the Rose Bowl like he owned the place and poise is a big reason why IU is sitting at 3-0 (1-0 Big Ten).
It’s the kind of success head coach Curt Cignetti foreshadowed for Rourke back on early signing day.
“He knows how to play quarterback,” Cignetti said, at the time. “It’s very evident to me. Tom Brady knew how to play quarterback. Philip Rivers, who I coached, knew how to play quarterback.”
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Indiana’s offense faced a third-and-16 less than a minute into the game on this season’s first trip away from Memorial Stadium. Offenses tend to struggle in those situations as the Hoosiers did last year when it went 4 of 38 on third down attempts of 10-plus yards to go.
Rourke was perfectly calm.
He initially looked to his left, but Elijah Sarratt got bumped off his route and Zach Horton was well covered. As UCLA defensive end Devin Auplu pushed into the backfield, Rourke held his ground and delivered a strike 20-yards across the middle to Myles Cross.
The Hoosiers converted two other third down attempts on the drive thanks to precision throws from Rourke.
“I have been in that situation a lot, and we practice third downs all the time,” he said. “The atmosphere raises (the difficulty), but you have to be able to stay calm and be able to go through your reads just like normal, because I have practiced it a bunch.”
Rourke, who played five seasons at Ohio, was making his 35th career start on Saturday night. He was 25 of 33 for 307 yards with four touchdowns, but it was success on third down that turned the game into a blowout.
He was a perfect nine for nine on third downs — five of those attempts were third and long (seven or more yards to go) — for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
“There’s definitely a lot of flashes even since January and spring ball that we could be a good team,” Rourke said. “We had a lot of really good pieces in order to compete this year, and it’s great to see that come out and show it and be able to let everybody know that we’re to be taken seriously.”
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Indiana football quarterback Kurtis Rourke takes advantage of his full arsenal
Indiana receiver Miles Cross won a lot of games playing alongside Rourke during their three seasons together at Ohio.
It’s why nothing Rourke did on Saturday night — spinning away from pressure, delivering strikes down the field in the face of a defender and effortless third down conversions — surprised him.
“He’s just a good quarterback,” Cross said. “That’s all I can say. He’s been doing this awhile now, it’s just what he does. It’s him, it’s Kurtis.”
Their connection was a potent weapon against UCLA.
Cross had six receptions for 90 yards and all but one of those catches went for a first down or touchdown. He made his second one-handed grab of the season for a 33-yard gain in the second quarter that helped IU go up 21-0.
“He put a great ball out there for me,” Cross said.
Cross isn’t the only receiver who can say that.
Rourke spread the ball around like a veteran point guard by throwing into the open areas of the field where UCLA brought pressure and those throws consistently generated big gains. He finished the game with nine explosive plays (completions of 15 yards or more) and four different receivers had at least one 20-plus yard gain.
“You want to replace pressure with pressure and be able to throw the ball to the vacated area,” Rourke said.
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.
