Jack’s Take: Is There a Real Battle to Become Indiana’s Starting Quarterback?

Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke and returning redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson took the vast majority of snaps during Indiana’s spring game Thursday. Rourke has the superior track record, but new head coach Curt Cignetti will make him earn the job, saying there’s “healthy competition” heading into the summer.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tayven Jackson came out sharp in Indiana’s spring football game Thursday.

The redshirt sophomore completed 7-of-7 passes on his first drive, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Donaven McCulley – placed perfectly where only the 6-foot-5 receiver could get it – across the middle of the end zone. Indiana scored again on its second drive with Jackson, a 13-yard touchdown run by Ty Son Lawton, set up by a 64-yard completion from Jackson to Andison Coby.

That’s about as good as Jackson has looked in an Indiana uniform, even with the caveat that it was the spring game against the second-team defense. And it served as a reminder of the excitement that came with Jackson’s decision to transfer from Tennessee to Indiana in January 2023 as a former four-star, top-200 recruit.

Meanwhile, Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke got off to a slow start in Thursday night’s spring game.

So does Indiana have a real competition brewing at starting quarterback?

Probably not.

That question was never going to be fully answered by the spring game alone, as Indiana still has summer workouts and fall camp that will carry substantial weight when choosing between Jackson and Rourke. But as new head coach Curt Cignetti noted postgame, it was good to see the quarterbacks push each other.

“I think there's a healthy competition there heading into summer and fall camp,” Cignetti said Thursday. “Competition is a great thing.”

Jackson’s performance in the spring game was not flawless, as he threw an interception and went three and out on his final two drives. By the end of his night, he had completed 10-of-14 pass attempts for 160 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Rourke’s first showing in an Indiana uniform followed an opposite path. He was off at first, missing a few passes and getting sacked on the first drive. Indiana failed to score on his first two possessions.

But Rourke showed perseverance by bouncing back and finishing strong. On the game’s final possession, he rattled off eight completions in a row to four different receivers, each between three and 15 yards. Then with less than a minute remaining, he delivered a well-timed pass to Coby near the boundary for a touchdown.

“We had some flashes of good plays throughout the whole night, we just couldn’t finish some drives, and that starts with me obviously,” Rourke said. “But being able to get ready for the next play and have that mentality to the next play – we were able to go down and finish a good drive. It’s confidence-building for myself obviously, but the whole offense will hopefully continue that and push that as we go into summer workouts.”

Rourke finished the night completing 19-of-30 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. 

Going into the spring game, expectations for Rourke were higher than Jackson. But it was Jackson who exceeded expectations and Rourke who fell a bit short. That doesn’t mean Jackson has passed Rourke in the competition, as the full scope of the spring, summer and fall will be taken into consideration. I still expect Rourke to start Aug. 31 against Florida International.

When Rourke committed to Indiana in December, he became the favorite to start at quarterback to begin the Cignetti era. Rourke transferred in from Ohio with three years of starting experience – a trait Cignetti values in transfers, a 2022 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Player of the Year award, and 2023 All-MAC second team honors. 

Compared to Jackson and the rest of Indiana’s young quarterbacks, Rourke’s résumé stands above the rest. And with one year of eligibility left, he wouldn’t transfer somewhere without a strong chance of starting. 

Indiana fell into a trap of flip-flopping between quarterbacks last season under former coach Tom Allen, as Jackson won the job but later lost it to Brendan Sorsby. Across six games, Jackson finished the season completing 60.9% of his pass attempts for 914 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions.

Jackson clearly has talent, and the spring game represented a step forward. But his performance last year revealed his game needs polishing. This staff should help that, as Jackson still has three years of eligibility.

Rourke has a proven track record of staying healthy throughout the course of a season. That should help his case compared to the less-experienced Jackson. The challenge for Rourke is a step up in competition from the MAC to the Big Ten while learning a new offense with new teammates.

Cignetti expects Rourke to perform well, but he wasn’t simply going to hand him the job on day one. Rourke must earn it, and that challenge continues past spring practices and into the summer.

“I think he's going to be a great player for us,” Cignetti said Dec. 20. “But everything is earned, not given. Nobody's promised anything … That's how we run our program.”

“Once in a while, a guy wants you to promise them something. What am I, nuts?”

Spring practice began March 21, and Rourke took snaps with the first-team offense, followed by Jackson and then true freshman Tyler Cherry, the nation’s 14th-ranked quarterback and the fifth-highest rated player in program history, per 247 Sports. Beyond that, Cignetti said he wouldn’t be very open about the quarterbacks’ practice rotation. 

But he did share a few revealing comments about their progress. Cignetti said on April 2 that Rourke had been functioning like a high-level quarterback, and that continued the following week.

“I think Kurtis Rourke has definitely taken a pretty significant step,” Cignetti said April 9. “He still can improve on a lot of different things.”

As for Jackson, Cignetti demanded a higher level of play.

“Tayven’s improvement has been a little bit slower,” Cignetti said April 9. “And while he has the physical ability, most of the time getting the ball from Point A to Point B, there’s a lot more to playing quarterback than that. So I need to see a jump in his game in that area.”

Rourke said he’s noticed steady improvement from the offense throughout the spring, whether it was the quarterback-to-receiver chemistry, understanding of the offense or their confidence to go out and execute. Moving forward, he strives to gain an even stronger grasp of the offense, while also working on his footwork to become quicker inside and outside of the pocket.

He and Jackson also have the luxury of working with Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri, who have an impressive history with quarterbacks.

At James Madison, Cignetti, Shanahan and Sunseri helped develop quarterbacks like 2023 Sun Belt Player of the Year Jordan McCloud, 2022 Sun Belt Offensive Player Todd Centeio, 2021 CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year Cole Johnson and 2019 CAA Offensive Player of the Year Ben DiNucci.

Beyond liking their playbook, it was the coaching staff’s mentality that drew Rourke to Indiana out of the transfer portal.

“Coach Cignetti is a confident guy, and he should be,” Rourke said. “He has the résumé for that, and so being able to hear that he’s not here to start rebuilding – he’s here to win in year one – that says a lot about who he is and who he is as a coach.”

“He doesn’t say too much, but when he does you want to make sure you’re listening and you want to take that seriously. His resume is crazy. He’s won everywhere he’s been.”

Indiana struggled to develop and keep quarterbacks healthy the last three seasons. But with Cignetti and his staff looking to turn the program around, Indiana appears far better suited to bring in and develop quarterbacks at a high level.

“Right now, quarterbacks are attracted to us,” Cignetti said. “Because when you take four different guys in five years and they're all Player of the Year in the conference and they all have different styles, they recognize that you do a great job of developing quarterbacks.”