Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke could be back sooner than expected, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel. Although he will not play in a competitive game against on Saturday WashingtonDon't expect him to be sidelined for too long.

“Kurtis Rooke is officially listed as retired today,” Thamel continued College game day. “Indiana will begin Tayven Jackson for the sixth time in his career as a quarterback. Considering I've been standing here for the last 24 hours, people have been stressing out to me considering Kurtis Rourke had thumb surgery on Monday and the situation couldn't have gone better.

“He had two small screws on the top of his thumb and is expected to try to fix it next week Michigan State.”

Rourke finished the 56-7 win over Nebraska completing 17 of 21 passes for 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Jackson came in later and threw two scores.

With the win, Indiana improved to 7-0 on the season and moved up to No. 13 in the AP poll. The Hoosiers finished at No. 16, thanks in large part to Rourke's play Curt Cignettis Impact in his first year as head coach.

Rourke, a transfer to the Ohio Bobcats, is having a great season. He has 1,941 yards, 15 touchdowns, three interceptions and a 74.6% completion rate this season.

Over his career, Rourke rushed for 9,607 yards, 65 touchdowns, 19 interceptions and a 67.6% completion rate.

As a member of the 2019 class, Rourke was a three-star recruit out of Ottawa (Ontario) Holy Trinity, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that takes into account all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 127 quarterback recruit in the class and the No. 2,247 overall prospect in the class.