Indiana Quarterback Kurtis Rourke – aka “The Maple Missile” won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Honors for the second time this season. Rourke won his first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award when the Hoosiers blasted UCLA. This week the Hoosiers pulled away in the fourth quarter to win at Northwestern. How will the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week fare over the rest of the season?
Kurtis Rourke Named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week
With another stellar performance in a road win against Northwestern on Saturday, Indiana senior Quarterback Kurtis Rourke earned the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award. Rourke shared the honor with Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka. Rourke won his first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award after torching the UCLA secondary for 307 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions at the Rose Bowl in a huge 42-13 victory.
Rourke completed 25 passes in 33 attempts versus the Wildcats. He finished with 380 yards and three touchdowns. Rourke’s total was the ninth-most passing yards against a Big Ten opponent in Indiana history and 14th most all-time against any opponent. Rourke has also done a great job avoiding turnovers with zero turnovers in five of the six Hoosiers wins.
Indiana QB Is Highest-Rated Passer In Conference
Rourke was the highest-rated passer in the Big Ten this week. He was also the only “Power 4” conference quarterback to throw for 300 yards with multiple touchdown passes and zero interceptions this week. Hailing from Oakville, Ontario, in Canada, Rourke has been dubbed “The Maple Missile” for his strong throwing arm. The Canadian is the first Hoosier QB to throw for at least three touchdowns in each of his first three Big Ten contests since 1967. That’s also the last year Indiana played in the Rose Bowl where they lost to USC and star Running Back O.J. Simpson.
Rourke Leads Big Ten In Passing
Rourke leads the Big Ten in multiple passing categories including: passing yards (1,752), passing touchdowns (14), passer rating (192.1), and yards per attempt (10.9). Nationally, the Indiana QB ranks fourth in passing efficiency, fifth in passing yards, ninth in passing touchdowns, and 12th in yards per attempt.
The last Hoosier quarterback to win multiple Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Awards was Nate Sudfeld in 2015. Sudfeld is a free agent quarterback who spent eight years in the NFL as a backup quarterback. Sudfeld won a Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017.
Next Game To Be Nationally Televised
The Hoosier enjoy a bye this week before the Nebraska Cornhuskers visit Indiana for the most highly anticipated Big Ten battle Bloomington has seen in years. Kickoff is set for noon Eastern time on Saturday, November 19. There appears to be a good chance FOX will bring its “Big Noon Kickoff” Show to Bloomington. The game will air nationally on FOX giving the Hoosiers a great opportunity to showcase the rising program to recruits.
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