Kurtis Rourke’s 2024 season at Indiana was already going down as the greatest by a quarterback in program history.
But the lore grew on Friday after a report he may have chosen to play the entire season with a torn ACL.
Reporting through Rourke’s agent Casey Muir, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network posted Friday on X that Rourke “will undergo ACL revision surgery Wednesday” and that “Rourke is believed to have re-torn his ACL in August.”
Obviously any decision by Rourke to play through a torn ACL would have been made by him and medical advisors.
Rourke also tore his right ACL at the end of the 2022 season while with Ohio. He played with a brace on his right knee throughout the 2024 season. And Rourke also suffered a throwing hand broken thumb in the seventh game of the season against Nebraska. He had surgery and missed just one game.
Despite it all, Rourke set the Indiana single-season record for passing touchdowns (29) and produced just the fifth 3,000-yard passing season in program history with 3,042 yards. He finished among the top-10 in single-season total offense (3,007) and is just the seventh IU player to reach 3,000 yard of total offense in a single season.
Rourke led IU to the College Football Playoff, finished No. 9 in the Heisman Trophy balloting, earned second-team All-Big Ten, and was a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Davey O’Brien Award.
The only Big Ten quarterback since 2000 to throw for 250 yards and at least 3 touchdown passes in their first three conference road games, Rourke completed 246-of-361 passes for 3,042 yards and 29 touchdown tosses to just five interceptions. He added two rushing touchdowns to account for 31 total scores on the season.
He finished his career with a 31-15 overall record as a collegiate starting quarterback between four seasons at Ohio and one season at Indiana. Rourke amassed 10,693 yards passing and 79 touchdown passes to go along with 13 rushing scores.
Rourke has appeared on early NFL Draft projections, but obviously this news could impact how early he is chosen. ESPN football analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranks Rourke as the No. 6 quarterback prospect in the draft.
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