Indiana football’s Kurtis Rourke makes progress, Donaven McCulley ‘needs to pick it up’
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti didn’t have much to say Tuesday inside the Hoosiers’ team room at Memorial Stadium — but his few words hammered home several key points.
Cignetti, donning a red pullover with Indiana’s white trident planted over his heart and the adidas logo on the other side of the zipper, spoke highly of new quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Star senior receiver Donaven McCulley didn’t receive the same treatment.
Rourke, a redshirt senior who transferred to Indiana from Ohio University in December 2023, is the leader in the clubhouse to be the Hoosiers’ starting signal caller.
Cignetti said he won’t say much about the quarterback rotation moving forward, as Rourke, redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson and true freshman Tyler Cherry will compete for the job in fall camp.
Still, Cignetti’s impressed with the progress Rourke has made during spring practice.
“He just looks like, the last two practices, he’s been functioning,” Cignetti said. “Looking like a high-level quarterback.”
The 6-foot-5, 222-pound Rourke is entering his sixth collegiate season. He’s two years removed from winning Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year and earned second-team All-MAC honors this past campaign.
Rourke is the decorated candidate. For Hoosier fans, Jackson offers familiarity, as he started five games last season and stayed with the program through the transition from Tom Allen, who was fired Nov. 26 after a 3-9 season, to Cignetti.
Then, there’s Cherry — the highest-rated recruit in the Hoosiers’ 2024 recruiting class and the fifth-best recruit in program history, according to 247sports.
Like Jackson, Cherry is a Greenwood, Indiana, native who went to Center Grove High School. Unlike Jackson, who’s taken some snaps with the first team alongside Rourke, Cherry has largely worked with the third team in camp — but Cignetti’s pleased with the traits he’s seen thus far.
“He’s not ready,” Cignetti said. “He does throw the ball to the right guy a lot. The arm strength and accuracy need to improve, but for a freshman to come in and find the open receiver. Keep plugging along — he gets better every day. Have a great summer and fall camp, and let’s see.”
Regardless of who ultimately wins the job, the Hoosiers’ quarterback will have no shortage of pass catchers at his disposal.
McCulley earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2023 after catching 48 passes for 644 yards and six touchdowns, and he is expected to be the go-to option. Elijah Sarratt, who followed Cignetti from James Madison University, ranked No. 11 nationally with 1,191 receiving yards last season.
There’s also E.J. Williams, a late-riser last season who made 20 receptions for 247 yards in the final four games, a trio of senior transfers in Miles Cross, Myles Price and Ke’Shawn Williams and returning redshirt sophomore Omar Cooper.
Cignetti said Williams started the spring well but suffered a leg injury and missed the last three practices. He did individual work on the Hoosiers’ outside practice field alongside other injured players while the rest of the team worked indoors in Mellencamp Pavillion.
Indiana’s receiving core is expected to be a strength this season, and through the first two weeks of spring practice, it has been.
“I see a couple guys starting to really step up,” Cignetti said. “Sarratt, Miles Cross, Price has been good. Ke’Shawn when he’s out there. Cooper’s made some nice plays. Just a little more consistency.”
McCulley, who worked with the second team Tuesday, is notably absent from the list — intentionally.
“I think Donaven needs to pick it up a little bit,” Cignetti said.
McCulley isn’t alone. The Hoosiers’ practices have been littered with mistakes, an expected side effect of installing new schemes on both sides of the ball.
But pads and helmets are on, and as Indiana works toward its spring game April 18, Cignetti likes where his team is trending.
“It is starting to look more like the practices we are accustomed to,” Cignetti said. “The energy level has been excellent. It was excellent Saturday, and it was excellent again today. So, we are making progress and walking off the field better.”
Indiana starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in Saturday’s win against Maryland.
Coach Tom Allen on Monday confirmed the injury, which is to the same ligament Penix tore as a true freshman in 2018. He ended up redshirting the season. Penix suffered the injury while scrambling out of bounds at the Maryland 5-yard line with 4:36 left in the third quarter. The 12th-ranked Hoosiers won the game 27-11.
Jack Tuttle, a transfer from Utah, replaced Penix against Maryland and will start this week when Indiana visits No. 16 Wisconsin. Tuttle completed all five of his pass attempts for 31 yards against Maryland and drew praise from Allen for staying prepared.
Penix had 1,645 passing yards and 14 touchdowns with four interceptions this season and also rushed for two touchdowns. His 2-point conversion lifted Indiana over Penn State in overtime of the season opener, and he passed for a career-high 491 yards and five touchdowns Nov. 21 in Indiana’s 42-35 loss to No. 4 Ohio State. Injuries have cut short all three of Penix’s seasons at Indiana, as he suffered a clavicle injury last November that required surgery.
“It’s a tough situation for all of us; heart breaks for Michael,” Allen said. “It’s just tough, it’s hard. Really feel for him and all he’s worked to get back and the way he was playing.”
Allen spent time with Penix before learning of the injury diagnosis and tried to prepare the quarterback for what could come next.
“It attacks the core of who you are,” Allen said, “and how you’re going to respond surely to things that happen that don’t seem fair, and when there’s no really good answer for why. That’s the case here. You basically fall back on what you believe in, you fall back on your faith, you fall back on all the people that care the most about you. And you battle. You fight. You don’t back down.
“Michael’s got some big-time long-term goals, and it’s going to take tremendous grit to fight through this.”
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