Indiana coach Curt Cignetti pored through the transfer portal last December, looking for a proven quarterback with a winning resume who could quickly become the cornerstone in another rebuilding project.
He landed on 23-year-old Kurtis Rourke, the 2022 Mid-American Conference MVP.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman had a far simpler pitch to former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard — win a national championship and go down in Fighting Irish lore.
Both coaches took big swings on their respective one-year hired guns and on Friday, they’ll reap the reward when Rourke leads the 10th-seeded Hoosiers against the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish in what looked like an impossible first-round College Football Playoff matchup all those months ago.
“We’ve had to prove, a lot of us have had to prove we belong wherever we are,” Rourke said. “It just fuels us, knowing that we’re counted out and we’re the underdog and we always will be — at least for this year — so we can go in and play freely and that we’re capable of competing with anybody.”
For Rourke, Leonard, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, there won’t be a next year. Each transferred to their playoff-bound schools with one college season left, so whatever happens over the next month must suffice.
If any of the four bring home a national championship, they could cement this model for years or decades given what all four have achieved.
Rourke’s ninth-ranked Hoosiers (11-1, No. 8 CFP) already have left quite a legacy.
They broke the school records for single-season wins, scuttled preseason projections of a 17th-place finish in the 18-team Big Ten by tying for second — ahead of perennial powers Michigan and Ohio State, came within a tiebreaker of playing for their first conference crown since 1967 and earned one of the precious 12 playoff bids.
Cignetti left nothing to chance. He brought most of his staff and 13 players from James Madison to Indiana, and the continuity helped speed up the transition.
He also brought more than a dozen other transfers including Rourke, who looked like a perfect fit — mature, 33 starts and 21 wins in his career, a high completion percentage and low interception rate and a brother, Nathan, who also played at Ohio before going pro.
“He’s played a lot of football, and you learn by doing,” said Cignetti, who was named The Associated Press Coach of the Year on Tuesday. “He’s gotten a lot of reps playing quarterback, a lot of successful reps. He’s a quick thinker, and he processes quickly. He’s extremely accurate, and he’s good in the pocket. He doesn’t panic. He has certainly taken his game to another level.”
Rourke, who got married in February, wanted to play another year and was intrigued by Cignetti’s confidence, system and history of cultivating conference player-of-the-year quarterbacks at previous schools.
The results were impeccable despite Rourke suffering a late-season thumb injury on his throwing hand, which required surgery. Despite missing one game, Rourke heads into the final month of this season as the most efficient passer in the FBS (181.38) and ranked near the top nationally in completion percentage (70.4%) and touchdown passes (27) on the highest scoring team (43.3 points) in the playoff.
He was named second-team all-Big Ten, behind Gabriel and ahead of Howard. Freeman has already seen enough on tape to know what Notre Dame’s stout defense is up against.
“Every great offense is led by a great quarterback and this is no different,” Freeman said. “He’s been in big games, he’s played a lot of football games, and he makes really good decisions. He knows where he’s going with his throws, he knows what he’s looking for and he executes at a high level.”
Leonard poses different problems for the Hoosiers.
One of the nation’s top rushing quarterbacks chose Notre Dame because of its tradition and the lure of leading one of college football’s blueblood programs to end a 36-year title drought, the longest since Notre Dame claimed its first title in 1924.
Freeman took this journey last year when Sam Hartman left Wake Forest and spent his final college season in South Bend. But Freeman isn’t necessarily married to the concept of recruiting a new starting quarterback every year.
“There’s a process it takes to make sure your quarterback and your offense are performing at the highest levels they can,” he said. “But there are also ways to expedite the process as I think Riley and coach (Mike) Denbrock and coach (Gino) Guidugli have been doing. As far as moving forward, it’s not something on worrying about in the future.”
That’s why the Irish (11-1, No. 3 AP) have made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2021 — and the first time with Freeman running the show.
A year ago, with Hartman, Notre Dame’s title hopes were derailed by two early season losses. This year, Leonard helped the Irish rebound from their stunning September loss to Northern Illinois by leading them to 10 straight wins while joining five Power 4 quarterbacks to top 1,900 yards passing and 650 yards rushing.
And with the Irish just four wins away from their ultimate goal, Leonard is ready for one last ride.
“I’ve been in every situation, played in a lot of big-time games, too. So I’ve been in this situation, I know what it’s like,” said Leonard, who has rushed for 33 career TDs. “To make it where we are now is kind of why I came to Notre Dame. I came here to compete, to make the playoff and to compete for a national championship.”
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