Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke saved his best for the final week of the college football regular season, leading No. 10 Indiana to a 66-0 win over Purdue and capturing the Old Oaken Bucket.
After struggling in last week’s loss to Ohio State, the Oakville, Ont. native bounced back by completing 23-of-31 passes for 349 yards and six touchdowns in the annual rivalry clash with the Boilermakers. He tied two-time NFL Pro Bowler Bob Hoernschmeyer and future CFL cornerback Tre Roberson for the most touchdowns thrown in a single game by a Hoosiers quarterback, the latter of whom also achieved the feat against Purdue.
In 11 appearances since transferring from Ohio University, Rourke has now completed 202-of-287 passes (70.4 percent) for 2,827 yards, 27 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He currently sits seventh in school history for single-season passing yardage and has tied veteran NFL backup Nate Sudfeld for the second-most touchdowns. The six-foot-five, 230-pound passer has a sizable lead over 2024 NFL first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. for the highest completion percentage by an Indiana QB, with the possibility of several games still to play.
The Hoosiers finished the regular season with 11 wins for the first time ever, with their only blemish being a Week 13 loss to the Buckeyes. They narrowly missed out on a ticket to the Big Ten title game, losing the tie-breaker to No. 4 Penn State after the Nittany Lions trounced Maryland 44-7 earlier in the game. However, Indiana is still expected to qualify for the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff and could rise in the rankings after No. 2 Ohio State was upset by Michigan earlier in the day.
Rourke and his teammates will have to wait until Sunday, December 8 when the final College Football Playoff rankings are released to find out their fate and opponent. The younger brother of B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke is already the top-rated prospect in the 2025 CFL Draft but could use these marquee matchups to improve his draft stock south of the border as well.
