BLOOMINGTON — The quarterback competition in Indiana football is moving forward this spring, and comments coach Curt Cignetti has made over the past two weeks suggest Curtis Rourke is distancing himself from the rest.
Cininetti has been reluctant to discuss the topic in depth, but he has praised Rourke every time he has stepped on the podium.
“I think Curtis Rourke has taken a pretty significant step,” Cininetti said Tuesday.
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Cininetti previously praised Rourke for playing at a “high level,” but balanced his praise by noting that the Ohio State transfer still has “room for improvement in a lot of ways.” Ta.
Rourke had an experience advantage over other competitors heading into the spring.
He was a three-year starter for the Bobcats and won MAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 with 3,256 passing yards (69.1%) and 25 touchdowns. His performance last season wasn't all that impressive, but he still led the team to 10 wins after coming back from a torn ACL suffered in November of the previous year.
Cininetti said much of the spring was focused on the offense and everything that goes with it, including news plays and learning a lot of new terminology. Rourke has passed that test so far, showing a live arm that pops out on film.
Another major development in the quarterback battle was Cignetti publicly stating that he wanted to see a little more play from Taven Jackson. Jackson appeared in six games (five starts) last season and threw for 914 yards (60.9%), two touchdowns, and five interceptions.
His best performance came in a second-half comeback against Louisville, when he scored a game-clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter with just one yard left. Previous staff liked Jackson's “moxie,” but he was benched after a series of middling performances.
“Taven's development has been a little slow. He's got the physical ability to get the ball from point A to point B most of the time, but he needs more than that to play quarterback,” Cinetti said. said. “You have to see the jump from his game in that area.”
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Center Grove alumnus Tyler Cherry, who enrolled mid-year, also earned varsity. The coaching staff remains excited about his long-term potential and is looking forward to seeing how much he develops this summer.
“Just looking at the footage from practice one to now, you can see the whole quarterback room has made a lot of progress,” Indiana tight end Zach Horton said. “They're listening to Tino (Sunseri). He's a great coach. There's already been a lot of progress. It's very exciting to see.”
The quarterback hasn't been active yet this spring, and next week's spring game won't change that.
Cininetti was adamant in a preseason interview with the Herald Times that the risk of injury far outweighs the benefits of keeping a quarterback active during the offseason, regardless of the quarterback's experience level. .
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.
