One of the biggest games on the college football calendar is coming up on Saturday when No. 5 Indiana heads to Columbus to take on No. 2 Ohio State. Indiana is putting its undefeated record on the line on Saturday with a chance to send a message to the test of the country that it is for real.
Despite being undefeated and ranked in the top 5, there is a feeling that Indiana is a little bit vulnerable in the College Football Playoff race with a loss. Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers are lacking quality wins and a blowout loss against Ohio State could force them to plummet close to the cut line in the rankings.
ESPN analyst Joey Galloway, a former Ohio State star in his playing days, suggested that the Hoosiers shouldn’t even let it get to that point and should instead bench star quarterback Kurtis Rourke on Saturday.
yes he did https://t.co/xIOkzg57Nm pic.twitter.com/AWrwo80Dys
— CJ Fogler
(@cjzero) November 20, 2024
Of course, Indiana would almost certainly lose the game if Rourke were to sit out. However, it would be much more difficult to punish the Hoosiers for a loss without their best player. As Galloway highlights, it would also avoid an injury to Rourke, which is how Florida State got left out of the CFP last season.
Despite the logic (which is a bit of a reach), maybe Indiana should just try to win its biggest game of the season and move on to the conference title game.
Indiana can shut everyone up with win on Saturday
Any discussion about Indiana’s success this season has usually been met with a “yeah, but …” sentiment. The Hoosiers have a played a weak schedule so far, and their strength of schedule currently ranks outside of the top 100.
The best win on the slate for Curt Cignetti and company is probably against Michigan, a team that was essentially pulled straight out of the 1960’s. However, they have a chance to silence all of that noise on Saturday.
A win against Ohio State would likely vault the Hoosiers up to No. 2 or 3 in the CFP rankings next week and cement their place in the Big 10 Championship Game against Oregon, where they would play for a first-round bye in the playoff. It would be a defining moment for a program on the rise in the first season with Cignetti at the helm.
As far-fetched as it seems, a win on Saturday isn’t out of the question for Indiana. Kurtis Rourke is a Heisman Trophy candidate and Indiana has been very impressive in its wins all season long. Coming into Saturday, Indiana has outscored its opponents by more than 30 points per game. It hasn’t played the stiffest competition, but it has taken care of business and gotten the job done with authority.
While much of the discussion is whether an 11-1 Indiana team deserves a playoff bid, it should be about what happens if Indiana wins on Saturday and keeps this dream season going. If it does, we could be looking at a new college football powerhouse.
The post Joey Galloway’s wild Kurtis Rourke suggestion sparks intense online buzz appeared first on ClutchPoints.
