Up next in 10
Postgame Q&A: Kurtis Rourke on Indiana football's 20-15 win over Michigan
700 views
Nov 14, 2024
#iufb
View Video Transcript
0:00
ctis Ro Curtis I guess a big picture
0:04
just when you see you know the fans that
0:06
excited you guys first 10- win team in
0:09
in in school history what are your
0:10
thoughts oh it's awesome I mean the
0:12
atmosphere today the the the fan base
0:14
the just how the towns kind of just
0:15
surrounded our team and uh just encourag
0:18
it's awesome to go out here and play and
0:20
and Win Win games for this this
0:21
community um and uh you know we know
0:24
they have our backs and and we're just
0:25
going to try to continue to keep this
0:26
going how important was this for you
0:28
guys just to have like real challenge it
0:31
goes down to last possession need a punt
0:33
return need some plays on offense yeah
0:35
um you know you obviously don't want
0:36
games to go down to to last possession
0:38
but they're going to come up and so um
0:40
you know our defense played exceptional
0:42
uh throughout the whole game um and
0:44
really came up with a good stop at the
0:45
end and then we were able to get that
0:46
first down so you know just those
0:48
situations that uh we practiced for and
0:50
and um knew were going to come up
0:52
eventually uh we just had execute and we
0:54
did I know you'll know more when you
0:56
break kind of it all down but how do you
0:58
how do you split that first half you
1:00
guys moved the ball pretty well
1:01
obviously scored 17 points and then the
1:02
second half where the offense just kind
1:04
of couldn't find its Rhythm yeah uh we
1:06
were going against a really good defense
1:08
and and so that first half we we were
1:11
had to be near perfect um made some uh
1:14
some good reads and and some big catches
1:15
some big runs um in the second half we
1:18
just didn't go our way the second half
1:20
um we didn't make those those same plays
1:22
and in in games like this against teams
1:23
and defenses like those we got to make
1:25
those plays and so that's definitely
1:26
something that uh we're going to have to
1:28
improve on and continue to work on
1:29
throughout rest of rest of the year was
1:31
it something Michigan was doing
1:32
defensively like specifically that was
1:34
guys um I mean there's a lot of what
1:37
what they've been doing and so we we
1:38
knew that they were going to um run the
1:40
run the coverages uh have different
1:42
thought process uh throughout the game
1:44
but um you know hats off to them for for
1:47
containing and and and um shortening uh
1:50
the field and drives that we had um so
1:52
they did a good job but at the same time
1:54
we we can definitely uh fix things on
1:56
our own late in the week when you have
1:58
an injury to the a starter on the
1:59
offensive line uh yeah it's huge I mean
2:02
Drew's uh you know one of my favorite
2:04
guys on the team uh you know big piece
2:06
of the o line um he's one of the hardest
2:07
workers uh that I know and so losing a
2:09
guy like that definitely hurts but um
2:11
it's always been next man up um Tyler
2:14
Stevens has been a guy that um everyone
2:16
loves as well uh stepped up in that role
2:18
uh did a great job um and we'll continue
2:20
to lean on him in the rest of line after
2:22
winning nine games after winning nine
2:25
games by 14 or more points go ahead go
2:27
ahead after winning nine games by 14 or
2:29
more points you have this close one what
2:31
does that tell you about the team to be
2:33
able to pull out a close one against a
2:34
decent team yeah uh I mean the these are
2:37
games that uh really test you as a team
2:39
see if you can you can hang on you can
2:41
win those tight games um we knew
2:43
eventually that we would we' come to a
2:45
game where um it' be close we'd have to
2:47
see what we're made of um so I'm really
2:49
proud of how we we handled it um again
2:52
our defense stepped up in big times and
2:54
um you know just uh just continue to to
2:57
build on this cuz it's another big
2:58
moment we got for the season how did
3:00
your thumb feel today uh it wasn't too
3:02
bad yeah it was all right do you feel
3:03
like it affected you at all passing the
3:05
ball or no no I'll be good how feel
3:08
throughout the week leading into the
3:08
game uh you know just uh you know I've
3:11
had a full practice week um and so it
3:13
was uh uh wearing on me a little bit but
3:16
uh had no issues going today had an off
3:18
day yesterday and so um yeah feel back
3:20
back to 100% going in the rest of the
3:22
year is is it one of those things where
3:24
like you've gotten progressively better
3:25
as time's going on or is it more
3:27
something like you have to learn to play
3:28
with a certain measure of discomfort
3:29
Yeah it's gotten better uh every single
3:31
day um still got to learn to to play
3:33
with discomfort I mean I went without
3:34
the glove today or this week um to so
3:38
continue to progress but it's also just
3:39
adjusting as well um but you know nice
3:42
to have a bye um and another full week
3:44
to prep before the next game um and so I
3:46
have no issues with the thumb moving
3:48
forward coach gives you 24 hours to
3:50
celebrate a win but 10 and0 I mean how
3:53
do you take a step back and kind of is
3:54
this a pinch me moment that you guys
3:55
have been able to to do this at this
3:57
point yeah a little bit a little bit but
4:00
um you know practicing and going through
4:02
this whole year since January getting to
4:04
know the guys uh kind of uh having a
4:07
vision of what what we we had um really
4:09
felt confident that we can make some
4:10
noise have a special season this year
4:12
and so um you know it's not not not
4:15
necessarily a surprise but you know you
4:16
love to be 10 and0 um that's the goal
4:18
starting at the beginning of the year
4:20
win every game um and we're just going
4:22
to keep rolling physical game physical
4:24
team you just played how was it having a
4:25
week off it's going to be good uh I know
4:27
we got a couple guys banged up and so uh
4:29
good to get their their bodies back um
4:32
have a not just a physical break but
4:34
also a mental break uh before we head
4:35
into like the final stretch it's kind of
4:37
a followup to that but like two by weeks
4:39
in a season's obviously not that common
4:41
like what does a second one do for you
4:42
especially this late in the year when
4:44
you got two big games you know back side
4:47
of it yeah um like you said it's a
4:49
physical game so uh being able to bounce
4:51
back and and have a have a week to kind
4:53
of uh reust and and heal up um it's huge
4:57
um especially going into a big week next
4:59
uh following week against Ohio state
5:00
that would be a good good test and and
5:02
so um being fully healthy is going to be
5:04
really important um so just lucky with
5:06
the schedule for sure do you think it
5:08
was more of their um pressure in the
5:10
second half or their switching coverage
5:11
as because you had a couple of the deep
5:12
throws in the first half what prevented
5:14
you guys from getting kind of those
5:16
after that uh you know I think a little
5:18
bit of everything um definitely got some
5:20
got some pressure but uh you know
5:21
definitely is I need to have a couple
5:23
better eyes as well um and so it's all
5:26
it's all all around offensive just needs
5:27
to get better um they didn't do anything
5:29
too crazy on defense a lot of what we
5:31
expected uh but they they
5:34
did coverage uh I mean nothing more than
5:37
we had seen all season um so you know I
5:40
need to do a better job of seeing it
5:41
better um getting the ball out um and
5:43
and not having to put the stress on o
5:45
line for for as long as I did sometimes
5:46
you guys are 10 to0 you beat the
5:47
defending national champs but everyone's
5:49
talking about hey we could play a lot
5:50
better what's that feeling like to do
5:52
that especially here at a school that
5:53
isn't used to being in this position
5:55
yeah um I mean it's just a team that uh
5:57
all the players are chasing perfection
5:59
and know that no matter what there's
6:01
going to be a little bit we can improve
6:02
on a little bit to learn I mean you get
6:04
to the end of the season like this and
6:05
uh 10 games in and you're still learning
6:07
you know we're going to go in Monday and
6:08
say you know uh congrats on the win good
6:11
job and we beat the defending Champions
6:13
I mean they're hell of a defense but um
6:16
we get a little better too and so that's
6:18
encouraging knowing that you know we
6:19
didn't just put our best game out there
6:21
we still got some some growth and stuff
6:22
so uh it's encouraging your number was
6:25
called to ice the game get that final
6:26
first down what's going through your
6:27
head you see all that green grass in
6:29
front of you yeah I just wanted to get
6:30
first down and knew that we that was the
6:32
game um I had a feeling that they would
6:35
uh come off the edge and so um just
6:37
happy that uh that it worked out like
6:39
that and we able to just clinch the game
6:40
that on offense was that design or was
6:42
it an option like you could have you
6:44
could have left it with the half back uh
6:46
yeah I could have left it with thanks
6:48
Curtis thanks
#College Sports
#Local News
#Sports News