After Indiana football defeated Northwestern 41-24 on Oct. 5, sixth-year senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors, according to a release Monday. Rourke shares the award with Ohio State graduate student wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
After the Hoosiers stumbled in their first two offensive possessions against the Wildcats with a turnover on downs and a three-and-out, Rourke guided them to seven consecutive scoring drives.
“(Rourke) has been outstanding, and offense, there’s so many playmakers and it all starts up front with the line,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said after the victory. “It seems like every time when the offense has needed to respond with a touchdown this season, they have.”
Rourke finished 25 of 33 for 380 yards and three touchdowns, alongside a quarterback rating of 96.
The Oakville, Ontario, Canada, native led the Big Ten in passing yards Saturday, and was also the highest-rated starting quarterback in the conference, according to Pro Football Focus.
Rourke became the first Indiana quarterback to toss at least three touchdown passes in his first three Big Ten matchups since Harry Gonso did so in 1967.
In his only season in Bloomington, Rourke leads the Big Ten in numerous passing categories with 14 touchdown passes, 1,752 passing yards, 10.9 yards per attempt and a 192.1 passer rating.
Rourke is the first Hoosier signal caller to win multiple Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors since Nate Sudfeld in 2015.
The Hoosiers are off this week before taking on Nebraska at noon Oct. 19 inside Memorial Stadium on Homecoming weekend. The contest will be nationally televised on FOX with the FOX Big Noon Kickoff pregame show slated to visit Bloomington for the first time since 2022.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
