Kurtis Rourke Named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week
After leading Indiana football to its first conference road victory since 2022 and largest Big Ten road winning margin since 2001, quarterback Kurtis Rourke was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. His efforts also earned him a spot on the Manning Award Stars of the Week list and the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 list. Voting for the Manning Award Star of the Week can be found by clicking here and voting closes on Wednesday at 8 a.m.
Rourke helped IU defeat UCLA inside Rose Bowl Stadium by 29 points, 42-13, for its largest Big Ten road win since a 31-point margin in 2001 at Wisconsin (63-32). The victory was the first conference road win since taking the Old Brass Spittoon from Michigan State in Spartan Stadium in 2022. In the game, he completed 25-of-33 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns. His efficiency on third down was spot on, as well, going 9-of-9 passing for 128 yards with eight of those completions accounting for a first down or touchdown. He also rushed for seven yards. The four touchdown passes were the most for an Indiana quarterback since 2020 when Michael Penix Jr. threw four against Ohio State and his 25 completions were the most by an IU signal caller since the 2022 season. He is the first Indiana player to earn Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week since 2020 when Ty Fryfogle (Week 4 & 5) and Stevie Scott III (Week 6) won three straight awards from Nov. 16-30. The last quarterback to earn Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week was Nate Sudfeld in Week 13 of the 2015 season at Purdue.
Indiana University Men’s Soccer Welcomes Evansville to Armstrong Stadium
Indiana Men’s Soccer (2-2-2) returns to Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium this evening to kick off a two-game homestand, starting with a match against in-state foe Evansville. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are on sale online or at any Armstrong Stadium ticket booth on matchday. Fans unable to attend the match can watch on the B1G+ digital platform. Tonight is Salute to Service Night at Armstrong Stadium. All active and retired service members who present their military ID at the Armstrong Stadium ticket windows will receive a $5 ticket to the game. Indiana is coming off a victory in its Big Ten Conference opener at Rutgers as senior forward Tommy Mihalic’s 87th-minute winner made the difference in a 1-0 result. Mihalic leads Indiana in scoring with four goals and nine points. Since 2016, Indiana owns a 78-8-14 record on its home ground, posting 61 shutouts in those 100 matches. Indiana boasts a 10,597-attendance mark through three games this season.
Evansville opened the year with four straight victories before suffering defeat in each of its last three matches to sit at 4-3 coming into Tonight’s match. The Purple Aces are led by second-year head coach Robbe Tarver, who has compiled an 8-11-4 record at Evansville. Evansville has scored 13 goals in seven matches, led by senior forward Nacho Diaz Barragan (5) and graduate transfer Sami Owuso (3). Indiana has historically dominated the series, winning 33 of the 41 matches since the series began in 1978 as well as nine of the first 10 meetings. IU is undefeated in the last 24 matchups, winning 22 of those. Its last loss to Evansville came in 1990. Indiana won again in 2023, thanks to goals from Patrick McDonald and Karsen Henderlong. McDonald also had an assist, as well as Samuel Sarver and Collins Oduro.
Indiana University Women’s Tennis goes unbeaten on Day 2 of the Columbia Invitational
Indiana Women’s Tennis went undefeated against Hofstra on day two and closed out the Columbia Invitational against the hosts in New York City. The Hoosiers earned dominating doubles wins as they swept Hofstra, 3-0. IU also picked up five straight set wins against the Pride. Freshman Marina Fuduric went into a tiebreaker set where she helped keep the Hoosiers undefeated with an 11-9 win in the tiebreak. Lara Schneider and Nicole Teodosescu saw 6-4 doubles win against Columbia on the final day. Freshman Nicole Sifuentes saw another win on the weekend defeating her opponent in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Sophomore Elisabeth Dunac picked up another individual win for the Hoosiers as she came back from a deficit in set one to defeat her opponent, 1-6, 6-4, [15-13]. IU will host the Hoosier Classic on October 4-6 at the IU Varsity Courts.
Indiana Fever beat the Dallas Wings in the Home Finale at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
The Indiana Fever (20-19) closed out the home portion of its regular season slate with a 110-109 victory against the Dallas Wings on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. With the win on Sunday, this was the ninth regular season in franchise history reaching 20 wins for the Fever. Indiana will travel to Washington D.C. on Thursday to face the Mystics for the final regular season game before postseason play begins on Sunday, September 22. Sunday’s win locked in the Fever at the No. 6 seed in the 2024 WNBA playoffs. The 110 points and 16 made 3-point field goals on Sunday tied franchise highs in a regular season game. Fever guard Caitlin Clark scored a career-high 35 points on 10-of-22 shooting to set the WNBA rookie scoring record with 761 career points. Kelsey Mitchell notched her second 30-point scoring outing this year and the backcourt duo became the first pair of teammates in WNBA history to record at least 30 points and each make five 3-point field goals in a single game. Mitchell and Clark also became the 10th and 11th players in WNBA history to score at least 750 points in the same regular season.
Fever center Aliyah Boston contributed 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting with six rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block. On Sunday, Boston passed Tully Bevilaqua for 15th on the Fever all-time career points list and enters Thursday with 1,128 career points. Fever forward NaLyssa Smith and guard Lexie Hull also combined for 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Off the bench, Temi Fagbenle recorded seven points and three rebounds and forward Damiris Dantas put up six points and three rebounds in just 12 minutes of play. Former Indiana University standout Grace Berger did not play. Dallas outscored the Fever, 34-26, in a back-and-forth first quarter effort. Indiana responded quickly in the second quarter going on a 19-8 run sparked by a back-to-back jump shot and 3-point field goal from Clark early in the run. Clark and Mitchell both put up 12 points going into halftime and Indiana outscored Dallas, 31-25, which marked the most points scored in a second quarter this season. The back-and-forth battle continued in the second half as the game was tied up seven times in the third quarter alone. Dallas went on an 11-3 run midway through the quarter and Indiana closed the third quarter on a 13-5 run to outscore Dallas, 27-24, and lead 84-83 going into the fourth. With roughly two minutes left in the game, Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to put Indiana up, 100-96, then back-to-back 3-point field goals from Dantas with one minute remaining put the Fever up by eight to help clinch the victory.
Indiana’s win on Sunday extended the Wings (9-30) losing streak to eight games with one game remaining on the Dallas schedule. Three Wings players scored more than 20 points as guard Arike Ogunbowale and forward Satou Sabally each led Dallas with 27 points. The two combined for 12 rebounds, 11 assists and two steals in the loss, too. Forward Natasha Howard followed with 26 points, 10 of which came from the second quarter alone, a game-high 10 rebounds and five assists. Forward Teaira McCowan added 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals as well. Despite the loss, Dallas outscored Indiana in paint points, 54-32, fast break points, 20-2 and tied a season-high 28 assists. The Fever end the regular season at the Washington Mystics on Thursday at 7pm and the game will broadcast on WTHR channel 13 and Prime Video.
Indianapolis Colts drop to 0-2 after losing at Lambeau Field to the Green Bay Packers
The Indianapolis Colts have started the new season 0-2 after losing 16-10 to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon. Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson ran for 11 yards on fourth-and-11 from the Packers’ 15-yard line, then connected with wide receiver Alec Pierce for a 4-yard touchdown to cut the Green Bay lead to 16-10 with just under two minutes to play. The Colts’ offense had the ball at the end of the game, but Richardson’s final heave as time expired was intercepted short of the goal line. The Colts expected a heavy dose of the Packers’ run game with backup quarterback Malik Willis, filling in for an injured Jordan Love, and that’s exactly what they got on Green Bay’s first drive. Packers’ running back Josh Jacobs broke free for a 34-yard run on first-and-20 to help set up the first points of the game — a 46-yard Brayden Narveson field goal. After a three-and-out, Green Bay moved right back down the field with an 11-play, 82-yard drive capped by a Willis-to-wideout Dontayvion Wicks 14-yard touchdown.
Looking for a quick response, Richardson threw his second interception of the season as Packers’ safety Xavier McKenney picked off a pass intended for Pierce. Green Bay appeared on the verge of delivering the knockout punch, but linebacker Zaire Franklin punched the ball out of Jacobs’ hands right before the goal line. Rookie defensive end Laiatu Latu recovered to keep the score at 10-0, Packers. That was the score at halftime. The Colts came out of the locker room aggressive, going for it on fourth-and-4 from their own 46-yard line, but Richardson misfired to running back Jonathan Taylor. Green Bay turned the short field into a Narveson 42-yard field goal to go on top, 13-0. The Colts finally got on the scoreboard their next possession with a Matt Gay 34-yard field goal to make it 13-3. They could have chipped into the deficit further, but Gay missed a 50-yard kick later in the game. Narveson made his third field goal of the game to extend the Green Bay lead back to 16-3 early in the fourth quarter. The Colts offense was on the move after a Richardson-to-Adonai Mitchell 30-yard connection, but then he threw his second interception of the game to end the threat. Colts’ defensive end DeForest Buckner, who was listed as questionable before the game with a back issue, had to be helped off the field with an ankle injury in the third quarter. The Colts return home next week for another NFC North showdown when they host the Chicago Bears at 1:00 p.m. on CBS.
Razor Shines #3 Jersey Retired by the Indianapolis Indians
An Indianapolis fan favorite received a huge honor at Victory Field. The Indianapolis Indians officially retired Razor Shines’ No. 3 in a ceremony before Saturday’s game against Rochester. Shines played 835 games in Indianapolis, including playoffs, from 1984-1989 and again from 1991-1993. He helped the Indians win 10 championships, including the 1984 American Association pennant, four American Association postseason championships and two Triple-A Classic titles. He ranks third in Indians history with 68 home runs, fourth with 404 RBI and his 138 doubles in Indianapolis is fifth in team history.
“We not only wanted to win on the field, but we wanted to win off the field,” Shines said. He did. Shines was known for holding clinics for kids and never saying no to an autograph. “There were guys that had better numbers than I had. No question about it, but I guess I was that guy that refused to lose,” Shines said. “No matter what the situation was, I thought we had a chance to win.” Shines is the first player in the Indians’ 122-year history to have his number retired. The only other number retired by the team is Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, which was retired across all of professional baseball in 1997. “When I found out they were going to do that, my entire family … it was just mind-boggling for us all,” Shines Said.
“It means more than anything. To see my number hung beside Jackie Robinson’s number, that’s just something you don’t even think about that as a kid while you’re playing. That’s not why you play, but to be honored that way, it is a tremendous honor.” Shines was surrounded by former teammates and family Saturday. “My main focus was trying not to cry, and it’s touching,” Shines said. No. 3 is now next to Jackie Robinson’s retired number at Victory Field. “I was born in the south in the mid 50s. There were some difficulties and some struggles,” Shines said. “Things have changed. Thanks to that number 42, I had the opportunity to do what I’m doing here. It means that you did something right.”
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