Indiana entered the last two seasons with uncertainty at quarterback. But Curt Cignetti and his staff have brought a lot of change to the program already, and that’s one thing that’s noticeably different.
The Hoosiers will have a new starting quarterback for the third straight year, but it’s clear who will take those snaps on August 31 against FIU.
Quarterback is widely regarded as the most important position in sports, so it’s only right to begin our IU position previews there ahead of the 2024 season.
Roster turnover — who’s gone
- Brendan Sorsby (transfer — Cincinnati)
- Broc Lowry (transfer — Western Michigan)
- Dexter Williams II (transfer — Georgia Southern)
Roster turnover — who’s back
- Tayven Jackson (redshirt sophomore)
- Roman Purcell (redshirt junior, walk-on)
Roster turnover — who’s new
- Kurtis Rourke (transfer — Ohio)
- Tyler Cherry (4-star, Greenwood, Ind.)
- Alberto Mendoza (3-star, Miami, Fla..)
Projected depth chart
Here’s our best estimate of Indiana’s quarterback depth chart.
- Starter: Kurtis Rourke, redshirt senior, 6-foot-5, 223 pounds (33 career starts at Ohio)
- Second string: Tayven Jackson, redshirt sophomore, 6-foot-4, 212 pounds (five career starts)
- Third string: Tyler Cherry, freshman, 6-foot-5, 219 pounds
There’s very little drama in Indiana’s quarterback picture going into this season, compared to the last few years. Cignetti may never flat-out name Rourke the starter, but he’s the guy. And Jackson has seemingly removed any doubts over whether Cherry could supplant him as the primary backup. The redshirt sophomore has looked good in camp, in the portions open to the media. Cherry has great potential long term, and surely his work in the spring and summer has helped him develop, but he has a lot of room to continue growing. Mendoza is unlikely to factor in at all this season, and could redshirt.
Quotable
Curt Cignetti on Kurtis Rourke:
“I’ve always made the quarterback decision when it comes to the portal. Our last four quarterbacks have all been Player of the Year in the league, and they were all different, and they all had their skeptics. We’ve done a great job of developing our quarterbacks. I felt like he was the best out there for us. He had started a lot of games. He was Player of the Year in the conference in 2022. He won a lot of games, engineered a lot of two-minute drives, done a lot of touchdown passes. Gotten them back to second and 10 when put in a bad situation. I thought he had a really good spring, a great summer. I sleep better at night knowing I’ve got a guy like that that’s played that many games.”
Why it will work
Rourke will give the Hoosiers a veteran presence at quarterback, something they sorely missed last year. He won MAC offensive player of the year in 2022 with 296 passing yards per game, which ranked 10th in the country, along with a strong 25:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Rourke, at his best, can be effective at all three levels in the passing attack. He also brings a rushing ability that some may overlook — in each of the last two seasons, he posted better rushing yards per attempt (3.3 last year, 3.4 in 2022) than Sorsby did at IU last year (2.4). In fact, only one IU quarterback in the last four years has topped those numbers from Rourke — Williams, at 4.1 yards per attempt in four games in 2022.
Rourke will also have a good stable of weapons to work with. Indiana’s wide receivers room looks loaded this year, with a lot of proven production and good depth. IU has a lot of running back depth as well, with differing skill sets that could make different players good fits in different situations. Pairing all the potential game-changers in those groups with a quarterback in Rourke who typically takes care of the ball could be a winning formula for Indiana’s offense.
Why it won’t
Rourke posted much more gaudy numbers at Ohio in 2022 than he did in 2023. Even the 2023 version of Rourke would be an upgrade at quarterback for IU over what it had last year, but that could limit how good the offense can be. Rourke averaged 200.6 passing yards per game in 11 games last season — for reference, Bazelak averaged 231.2 yards per game across 10 contests for IU in 2022. Of course, Bazelak’s touchdown-to-interception ratio and completion percentage were much more problematic than Rourke’s was. But if last season’s step back is indicative of what Rourke will give IU this year, and if the leap from the MAC to the Big Ten brings difficulties for him, Indiana’s offense could have limited upside.
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