Matchup to Watch: Week Twelve – Protecting Kurtis Rourke...Again

Written by: TJ Inman 

The Indiana Hoosiers fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, falling to 10-1 and #10 in the polls. IU’s playoff fate is unclear but losses by Ole Miss, Alabama and Texas A&M appear to have the Hoosiers in a great spot to make the 12-team field. Of course, they must comfortably take care of rival Purdue before worrying about any of that. Indiana has not won the Old Oaken Bucket since 2019 and the Boilermakers enter this contest winless in the Big Ten.

On offense, Purdue leans heavily on running back Devin Mockobee and tight end Max Klare. After the past two games, the clear issue for IU is figuring out a way to fix an offense that has ground to a halt in the past 90 minutes of football. There are a few explanations for IU’s recent struggles on that side of the ball: Kurtis Rourke’s thumb injury has limited his effectiveness, the offensive line has had a hard time without starting guard Drew Evans, IU has had to go against Michigan and Ohio State and could not handle the athletes those teams bring to the matchup, the coaches cannot figure out how to counter the blitz packages thrown at them.

The answer is very likely a combination of those issues. While Purdue’s defense will not offer anywhere close to the same level of athleticism and talent for IU to try and match up with, the Boilermakers will likely blitz often until the Hoosiers can show they can deal with it. 

Both Michigan and Ohio State were effective bringing slightly delayed blitzes or adding a couple of extra pass rushers at the middle of the IU offensive line. The Hoosiers are not picking up those blitzers and the pressure has definitely impacted Kurtis Rourke. Indiana was not able to challenge Ohio State down the field and Rourke was sacked way too many times against the Buckeyes. The running game was actually effective against Ohio State as both Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison had solid games but the overall numbers don’t look great due to the sacks and lost yardage.

Purdue is 80th in the country in sack percentage at just 5.56 percent. That is a far cry from the 2nd ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Still, this is something the IU coaching staff needs to figure out immediately because a couple of sacks that force punts and maybe a forced fumble or two that gives Purdue a short field could make this game uncomfortably close for Curt Cignetti and the sold-out crowd at Memorial Stadium. If the offensive line can protect Rourke, IU should pick apart the Purdue defense and feel much better about their chances to win in a bowl game or first round playoff matchup.