Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke continued his hot start to the 2024 season on Saturday, leading Indiana University to a dominant 42-13 victory over UCLA.
In his first trip to the Rose Bowl, Rourke completed 25-of-33 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns. The Hoosiers never trailed against the Bruins and the strength of the victory led them to receive 13 votes in the Associated Press’ Top 25 poll, essentially making them the number 34 team in the nation. Indiana was last ranked in the AP poll prior to the 2021 season.
Rourke transferred to Indiana this offseason, joining a program that had gone 7-17 over the past two years. Through three games, he has completed over 74.3 percent of his passes while throwing for 755 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions. The Hoosiers opened their 2024 campaign with a 31-7 victory over Florida International University, before blowing the doors off of Western Illinois 77-3.
The younger brother of B.C. Lions’ quarterback Nathan Rourke previously attended Ohio University, where he surpassed his sibling to reach second all-time on the school’s passing yardage list. He led the Bobcats to a 9-3 regular-season record in 2023, completing 63.5 percent of his passes for 2,207 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions while also carrying the ball 67 times for 219 yards and four touchdowns.
The native of Oakville, Ont. threw for 3,256 yards and 25 touchdowns during the 2022 season, leading Ohio to their first 10-win season since 2011, their first MAC Championship game appearance since 2016, and their first bowl game since 2019. Despite tearing his ACL late in the season, he became the first Bobcat to win the Vern Smith Leadership Award as the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Most Valuable Player.
Rourke is in his final year of college eligibility and was recently named the No. 1 player on the 2025 CFL Scouting Bureau rankings. However, he is expected to generate interest in the 2025 NFL Draft and will have a chance to inflate his stock with three ranked opponents remaining on Indiana’s schedule: No. 3 Ohio State, No. 18 Michigan and No. 22 Nebraska.
The Hoosiers will return to action on Saturday, September 21 when they host the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
