Indiana Hoosiers Starting QB for Week 5: Who is Curt Cignetti's QB1 for game against Maryland Terrapins?
The Indiana Hoosiers started the season with four straight wins under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. They next face Big 10 rivals, the Maryland Terrapins, who are 3-1. The matchup takes place on Saturday, with kickoff scheduled at noon ET at Memorial Field in Bloomington, Indiana.
Senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke started all four games under center for the Hoosiers. He is in his sixth and last year in college football, spending the last five years with the Ohio Bobcats.
Will Kurtis Rourke continue to start for Indiana in Week 5?
Yes, with no injuries to report, Rourke should continue to be the starting quarterback for the Hoosiers. He has lived up to expectations so far this season and will hope to continue his performance on Saturday.
At the Bobcats, as a redshirt freshman in 2020, Rourke was limited in action before getting more opportunities the following year. In 2021, he threw for 1,817 yards, including 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. In 2022, he had his best season, throwing for 3,256 yards, 25 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Last season, he threw for 2,207 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Kurtis Rourke's performance in first 4 games of the season
Despite being a transfer quarterback, Rourke found synergy with his team early on this season. He's already thrown eight touchdown passes to his route runners with zero picks.
In Week 1's 31-7 win over Florida International, he threw for 180 yards and one touchdown on 62.5% completion rate. The following week, in a 77-3 blowout win over Western Illinois, he threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns on 88.2% pass completion.
In Week 3's win 42-13 against UCLA, he passed for 307 yards with four touchdowns. He followed that up with another 52-14 blowout win over Charlotte, where he threw for 258 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 32 yards on four carries, which included one touchdown.
Following last week's win, coach Curt Cignetti spoke highly of Kurtis Rourke (via SI.com):
"I think he's playing pretty well," the Hoosiers coach said. "He will be the first to tell you it wasn't perfect and he came back from what I thought was a really outstanding performance against UCLA with a pretty solid performance today but that's why we recruited him, too, he had already proven himself on tape. I am extremely pleased to see the progress he's made since he started playing games."
The oddsmakers expect Curt Cignett's Indiana Hoosiers to remain undefeated, as they enter the game as 7.0-point home favorites.