After taking the Indiana function, Short Cignetti has declared himself the winner and has done more than enough to back up his words. IU is 6-0 for the first time since 1967 and is one of three undefeated teams remaining in the Big Ten. The quarterback play was a big part of the Hoisers’ success, led by Kurtis Rourke.

Rourke, another Bloomington freshman, is in his sixth season of college football. The previous five were gone Ohio but Rourke decided the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. Cignetti knew he needed a quarterback and when he first heard of Rourke, he did what anyone else would do.

“When you have a guy like that, he’s in the portal,” Cignetti began on Wednesday’s episode of Andy & AriOn3. “What’s the first thing I do? I Google him. MAC Player of the Year ’22, career stats. Lots of touchdown passes, very few interceptions. I’ve started a lot of games, won a lot of games, designed a lot of two-minute drives for touchdowns.

After firing up Google, Cignetti turned on the movie and saw firsthand what Rourke could do. He saw someone who could play quarterback, calling on the family background as his older brother, Nathan, was also highly skilled in the MAC.

Once Indiana visited him on campus, she knew they had their man and the Hoosiers have been enjoying life ever since.

“When you look at the tape, you see a guy who can make the throws. But you can see on the tape that he just understands how to play quarterback. Some guys are programmed to play quarterback. After we talked a few times, he came for his official visit, there was no doubt about that. We felt like we could build around him… He thrived.”

Rourke has thrown for 1,755 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 73.8% of his throws for Indiana. For reference, Hoosier quarterbacks threw a total of 18 touchdowns through the entire 2023 season. That number will be blown by Rourke by the time his campaign is over.

However, a tough test follows. Nebraska is coming to town for what is the biggest football game in Indiana in a long time. Reaching 7-0 would continue their great run and perhaps even propel them to victory College Football Playoff discussion. Rourke was the steady hand and hopes to continue on the national stage.