Kurtis Rourke was in command as Indiana pulled away in the second quarter en route to an eventual 56-7 win against Nebraska.
At one point, Tino Sunseri, the Hoosiers’ quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator, sensed something was wrong by the way Rourke held his throwing hand.
“When he got over to the sideline, he just had us tape his thumb,” Sunseri said in a recent phone interview. “He was leading us down the field with a bone that was sticking through the nail bed.”
With Indiana leading 28-7 and Roarke completing 17 of 21 passes for 221 yards and X-rays confirming a fracture, Rourke was given the rest of the afternoon off. He needed surgery to repair the thumb, and a magical Indiana season looked as if it had hit a pothole.
Rourke, also wearing a knee brace to protect a partially torn ACL, missed only one game. Indiana went 11-2, the most wins in school history, and finished the season ranked No. 10 in the nation. The previous year, when Rourke was finishing his fourth season at Ohio University, the Hoosiers were 3-9.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence the type of year they had with the type of quarterback they had,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I love his size, the way he throws, the way he plays the position.”
Given that Rourke is a seventh-round draft pick by the 49ers, No. 221 overall, and had ACL surgery following the season, the odds are against him being a factor anytime soon. Shanahan conceded Rourke “might not be ready for another year.”
Rourke shrugged off playing despite the injuries in a conference call with local reporters.
“I stayed in the pocket more than I have in past years, but I loved being able to sit back and beat people with my mind,” Rourke said. “If I needed to make a play or run to get a first down, I was going to do that anyway. The pain wasn’t crazy. it was just something I had to work through.”
It isn’t lost on Rourke that the 49ers are led by Brock Purdy, the patron saint of quarterbacks selected in the seventh round.
“I’m excited to learn from him, excited to learn from the coaching staff,” Rourke said. “They developed him into one of the best quarterbacks in the league.”
Rourke will be rehabbing throughout the offseason and it’s not certain if he’ll be ready when rookies report to training camp on July 16. But when the veterans report a week later, he’ll be in the quarterback room with Purdy, veteran backup Mac Jones and practice squad holdover Tanner Mordecai.
It’s an environment that Sunseri, now the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at UCLA, believes Rourke will thrive. In describing Rourke, he may as well be describing Purdy.
Mature. Serious-minded. First in the building and last to leave. Leads more by example than words. Doesn’t need to be pushed. It also applies to Jones, who was at Alabama in 2020 when Sunseri was on Nick Saban’s staff and became a first-round draft pick.
“When it comes to the cerebral aspect of the game, and being able to take on a lot of information and being able to apply it, I think they’re very similar in that sense,” Sunseri said. “They’re both winners.”
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) is sacked by Ohio State's Lathan Ramson on Nov. 23 in Columbus. A.P. PhotoRourke was one of the nation’s most efficient passers in 2024, with a college passer rating of 176.0 that was exceeded only by Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss, a first-round draft pick. Rourke completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 3,042 yards, 29 touchdowns, and five interceptions. He has pro size (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) and can deliver high-velocity throws into tight windows and display touch on back-shoulder and downfield passes.
He picked up a demanding Indiana offense immediately after excelling at Ohio.
“At Ohio, we tried to be in the perfect play every time,” Rourke said. “Transitioning to Indiana, it was being able to know where to go with the ball on each play based on the defense and the coverage. It helped me to understand and learn to read defenses in a different way.”
Rourke’s injury history — he also missed time with a shoulder injury in 2020 — hurt his draft stock. So did subpar games in one-sided losses against Ohio State (8-for-18, 68 yards) and Notre Dame (20-for-33, 215 yards), the latter in the College Football Playoff.
Lynch, who was at the Ohio State game along with director of college scouting Dom DiCicco, was undeterred.
“We just felt there was a lot of talent, a lot of ability,” Lynch said. “The guy plays the game the right way. You can’t have enough good quarterbacks.”
Sunseri, whose younger brother Vinnie played briefly for the 49ers in 2016, was delighted with where Rourke wound up.
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Rourke is the fourth quarterback drafted in the Shanahan-Lynch regime, following C.J. Beathard (third round, 2017), Trey Lance (first round, 2021), and Purdy (seventh round, 2022). Only Purdy exceeded the 49ers’ hopes.
“I’m in a really good spot,” Rourke said. “Really excited about where I am, and I’m looking forward to getting on the plan of the 49ers and their medical staff and starting to figure out what the future looks like.”
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