BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti has built his own quarterback room.
The Hoosiers finished spring practice with the offense defeating the defense 34-25 in their first spring game since 2019.
Indiana's quarterback totaled 326 passing yards and two touchdowns from scrimmage in the second quarter. Curtis Rourke, a transfer from Ohio State, worked with the first-team offense for the entire game and played the most snaps (52), far ahead of Taven Jackson (21).
“I think there's going to be some healthy competition going into summer and fall camp,” Cininetti said. “Competition is great.”
There is still some competition, but the spring games showed there is a clear pecking order for positions coming out of camp.
Indiana football's passing attack hints at potential.
Rourke's best moment of the spring game came on the offense's 15-play, 75-yard final drive. He completed eight consecutive passes, using every part of the field, to get IU inside the 20-yard line.
Rourke relied on receiver Sage Surratt for three catches for 31 yards and tight end Zach Horton for three catches for 18 yards on the drive. He hit Surratt on an out route to the sideline for a 15-yard gain, one of his better throws of the night.
He capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown to Andison Kobe for the winning score.
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“We had some good plays all night,” Rourke said.
He made some off-target throws, but the only bad one of the game was a short pass to Donaven McCallie that nearly got picked off late in the first quarter. It would have been a pick-six if Coby Minor hadn't jumped a route and dropped a potential interception.
Rourke's other mistake was not throwing the ball deep out wide when defensive end Mikael Kamara forced him out of the pocket. Rourke threw the ball in front of the line of scrimmage, and Cininetti instructed the referee to throw the flag.
Rourke felt it was an overall good night for the first-team offense, going 20-of-30 for 148 yards with a touchdown on seven drives.
“Today was a good showcase of what we can do,” Rourke said.
Jackson got off to a strong start, but Cignetti was quick to point out that some of his success was due to playing against inexperienced defenders in the team's secondary, including true freshman Dontray Henderson .
Henderson collapsed on Jackson's 65-yard completion to Coby. Jackson had two completions against Coby, accounting for 105 of his 170 yards. The redshirt sophomore finished with 10 points on 13 hits with a touchdown and an interception.
He completed his first eight passes.
“We were trying to figure out if our two offenses were that good or if our two defenses were that bad,” Cininetti said. “I think I know the question, or the answer to that. I think the freshman corner got a little exposed on the perimeter. But Teiben made some great pitches and Andison made a play or two. decided.”
Freshman quarterback Tyler Cherry only logged six snaps from scrimmage working with the third-team offense. He went 1 of 3 for 8 yards, but the offense failed to get a first down on either possession he was in the game.
Curtis Rourke wants to help Cininetti build a winning path
Rourke had options in the transfer portal, but Cininetti's past success gives Indiana an advantage over a contender. The resume that Mr. Cignetti infamously touted at his first press conference (he told new employees to “Google me”) was a key element in Mr. Rourke's decision-making process. .
Indiana's marketing team even turned that audio soundbite into a season ticket ad.
“I hear he didn’t come here to just start a rebuild, he came here to win his first year,” Rourke said. “That says a lot about who he is as a coach.”
Cininetti's confidence resonated with Rourke, as Rourke is used to winning as well.
In high school, he led Holy Trinity High School to the Houlton Championship as a junior. He had a 21-11 record at Ohio University and led the program to back-to-back bowl appearances.
He put up big numbers in each game, from 4,250 career yards and 63 passing touchdowns in high school to 7,576 yards (66.1% completion rate) and 50 touchdowns at Ohio University.
Rourke has spent the last few months learning Indiana's strategy and is excited about what's to come.
“I love this playbook, I love its design, I love what it's called,” Rourke said. “They always seem to be one step ahead and look after their defense.”
Rourke comes out of spring training looking like he's in the driver's seat of IU's quarterback competition, but he's not taking anything for granted.
After the spring game, he talked about building even more chemistry with his new teammates and immersing himself more in the playbook. He has also been tasked with improving his footwork by the coaching staff during the offseason.
“We're going to continue to grow and improve throughout the fall,” Rourke said.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for the Bloomington Herald Times. You can follow him at X @michaelniziolek Click here to read all of his articles.
