Indiana game just got a lot tougher for Michigan State football

On Thursday, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti announced veteran quarterback Kurtis Rourke will start Saturday against Michigan State football after having thumb surgery following the Hoosiers’ rout against Nebraska.

Will this be the deciding factor in the Spartans’ attempt to play spoiler?

Undefeated Indiana visits East Lansing on Saturday and Michigan State will try to ruin the Hoosiers’ undefeated season.  

A primary reason Indiana has flat-out embarrassed teams is their starting quarterback, Kurtis Rourke. The Ohio University transfer has been spectacular this year, completing 74 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns without putting the ball in harm’s way (only three interceptions).

During Indiana’s 56-7 win over Nebraska, Rourke broke his thumbnail and ultimately needed surgery and screws to repair it — one heck of a thumbnail injury.

Michigan State’s preparation for the Hoosiers

Spartan head coach Jonathan Smith said earlier this week that Indiana plays a very similar scheme offensively regardless of the quarterback. Although the passing attack wasn’t as effective, backup Tayven Jackson led the way in a 31-17 win over the Washington Huskies.

Indiana is one of the best teams in the country at getting the ball out quickly. As it stands today, the Hoosiers’ offensive line ranks sixth in the nation only giving up 3.13 tackles for loss per game. 

Michigan State will need to rely on a four-man pass rush getting home so the linebacker unit will be free to defend quick plays. If you’ve watched the Spartans in conference play, you’ll know this is a tough task given they’ve logged only one sack against Big Ten teams.

Where’s the glimmer of hope?

In my opinion, Rourke won’t play with the same efficiency we saw before the thumb surgery. I don’t care how minor the surgery was or how small the screws are, surgery is surgery and screws are screws.

Two weeks is not a lot of time to recover, especially on such an important body part for a quarterback. You only have one thumb on the throwing hand, which makes an injury like this very tricky. Could grip be an issue here? In my mind, absolutely.  

Quarterbacks have a very small margin of error when it comes to passing. Just a small deviation in passing accuracy could be the difference between an explosive play and a costly turnover.

This is exactly how Michigan State football wins this game, taking advantage of a quarterback who is not 100 percent. Forcing a turnover or two is a requirement to slow this offense down. At the same time, Aidan Chiles needs to protect the ball at all costs. The Hoosiers will make you pay if you gift them extra possessions.

I hope I don’t eat my words.

Go Green.