Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke revealed on Saturday he endured more than just an injury to his thumbnail during the first half against Nebraska a few weeks ago.
If Rourke continues to play at a high level, and he leads the 9-0 Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff, some of the credit needs to go to his hand surgeon.
The starting quarterback for the Hoosiers suffered a broken bone in his thumb against the Cornhuskers. That was discovered during halftime x-rays, Rourke said on Saturday.
So how did Rourke miss just one game with a broken thumb? Head coach Curt Cignetti revealed that aspect of the mystery during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show this week.
“We were fortunate when they went in there that they were able to do a procedure that they didn’t expect they’d be able to do,” Cignetti told McAfee. “So the recovery process (for Rourke) was about half as long as they expected. I can’t tell you how much respect everybody has for him to come back from that.”
In his postgame interviews Saturday, Rourke credited Indianapolis hand specialist Dr. Lance Rettig, an IU alumnus, for performing the surgical procedure on his thumb that allowed him to return so quickly.
Although he was able to play at Michigan State, Rourke still had to deal with some fairly substantial modifications to his throwing hand.
“When I knew that Michigan State might have been a possibility, I tried to think of ways to properly throw and everything,” he said. “My thumb was pretty swollen, and still is a little bit. I lost a little bit of grip, so I needed something that would be sticky enough that I could play with, but not inhibit throwing the ball as well.”
“I had a couple things. I had a little splint that covered my nail just for prevention of anything like bending it back. And then I cut off a glove to cover my thumb for extra grip.”
Rourke started slow against Michigan State as IU uncharacteristically went three-and-out on its first two drives in East Lansing. But he appeared to get comfortable in drive three, and Rourke finished the game 19-of-29 passing, with 263 yards and four touchdowns.
On the season, Rourke continues to be in the Heisman Trophy conversation despite missing six quarters with the thumb injury. Overall he has completed 73.3% of his throws for 2,204 yards with 19 touchdowns against just three interceptions.
Cignetti told McAfee on Wednesday Rourke has continued to trend in a positive direction this week as Indiana prepares to host Michigan (3:30 p.m. ET Saturday, CBS).
The first-year Indiana head coach acknowledged what seems obvious at this point — Indiana runs on all cylinders with Rourke behind center.
“The quarterback is the guy,” Cignetti said. “He’s gotta distribute the ball, and make the plays, and make good decisions, and be clutch in critical situations. And he (Rourke) is that guy.
“I’ve seen a lot of gurus lose their guru card when they lost their guy. You gotta have a guy.”
Fortunately for Indiana and Cignetti, their guy was able to come back sooner than anticipated, and the magical season rolls on.
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