Local Sports News: October 22, 2024

ESPN’s College Gameday is coming to Bloomington for Saturday’s IU-Washington Football Game ESPN’s College GameDay will make its second-ever trip to Bloomington and first with its full Saturday pageantry on the IU campus when the Indiana football program host Washington on Saturday (Oct. 26). The show will air for three hours from 9 a.m. to noon, hosted by Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit and former Indiana head coach Lee Corso. The Hoosiers and Huskies will kick off at noon on Big Ten Network inside a sold-out Memorial Stadium. The site for College GameDay, as well as fan information, will be announced in the coming days with the program airing live on ESPN from 9am to noon ET and streaming on the ESPN App.

College football’s premier pre-game show is in its 36th season and last ventured to Bloomington for a special Thursday Night edition of the show in front of Indiana and Ohio State’s season-opening tilt on August 31, 2017. That show aired from inside Memorial Stadium. Indiana (7-0, 4-0 B1G) enters the weekend with the nation’s third-longest active winning streak and the second-longest winning streak to start a season in program history (8 games; 1967). Overall, the seven straight wins mark the third-longest winning streak at IU, with eight-game streaks in both 1967 and 1945. Washington (4-3, 2-2 B1G) is coming off of a bye and makes its second trip to Memorial Stadium all-time and first since 1978, a 14-7 IU victory.

Indiana University Quarterback Kurtis Rourke Sidelined with Injury Pete Thamel of ESPN is reporting IU football quarterback Kurtis Rourke will miss this weekend’s game against Washington, maybe more. “Sources: Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke is not expected to play this week against Washington because of a thumb injury in the Nebraska game,” Thamel posted on his X account.  “He will return this season, but the timetable isn’t clear yet.” SCINN confirmed Thamel’s report via a source. Later on, Sunday IU released the following statement: “The Indiana football program announced on Sunday that redshirt senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke will be out an indefinite period of time with a thumb injury but is expected to return in 2024.” Rourke, a contender for the 2024 Heisman Trophy, appeared to injure his throwing arm thumb while attempting a pass in the first half of a 56-7 IU win over Nebraska on Saturday.  His thumb appeared to contact a Nebraska defender’s arm while following through on a pass.  Blood could be seen on his thumb.  Rourke played another series with the injury but did not play in the second half.

IU coach Curt Cignetti said after the game he was optimistic about Rourke’s prognosis and signaled removing Rourke from the game was more of a precautionary measure. Rourke has completed 135 of 181 passes for 1,941 yards this year.  He has 15 touchdowns and three interceptions. Redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson will fill in on Saturday as the starter vs. Washington. A former 4-star recruit from Greenwood, Ind., Jackson has played in 13 career games.  He has completed 93 of 150 passes (62%) for 1,176 yards, with five touchdowns and three interceptions.  He started five games a season ago for the Hoosiers. In the second half Saturday vs. Nebraska, Jackson was 7 of 8 for 91 yards with two scores.  He also ran twice for 21 yards.

Indiana University Football Sells Out for the Rest of the Season No. 13 Indiana will be playing in front of a packed house in Bloomington the rest of the way. IU Athletics announced on Sunday afternoon Memorial Stadium is sold out for the three remaining home games — Washington, Michigan and Purdue.  This follows the sellout for Saturday’s game against Nebraska. According to IU football Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communications Greg Campbell, this is the fifth time in program history the program has sold out multiple games in a season. The four sellouts in 2024 are the most in a season since Memorial Stadium went above 50,000-plus capacity (1970). The 1969 IU team sold out all five home games with 50,000-plus in attendance for each game (48,344 capacity). Saturday’s game against Nebraska had an above capacity crowd of 53,082.  That was the fourth-highest attendance ever for an IU football home game. Indiana’s single-season attendance record of 354,823 is a mark that seems certain to be passed in November.  The best attendance average in a season was 53,919 in 1969.

Bloomington North wins the Sectional Girls Volleyball Championship while Edgewood and Lighthouse Christian fall in the Title Game The Bloomington North Cougars won their first Girls Volleyball Sectional Title since 2005 beating Terre Haute South 3-0 In the Class 4A Championship game at Bloomington North Saturday Evening. It’s the 7th Sectional Title in program history for the Cougars and they will be at home on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm hosting Floyd Central for the Regional Championship. Earlier in the day Bloomington North beat cross-town rival Bloomington South 3-0 and Terre Haute South beat their cross-town rival Terre Haute North 3-0 in the Semifinals.

In Class 3A at Speedway Edgewood beat Owen Valley 3-0 in the semifinals to advance to the championship match where the Mustangs fell to Northview 3-0. Edgewood ends the season at 17-15. In Class 1A at White River Valley Lighthouse Christian beat White River Valley 3-0 to win its second ever sectional game in program history and advance to the championship game for the very first time. The Lady Lions fell to Shakamak 3-0 but end a memorable and historic season with a record of 21-8 for Head Coach Brian Brown.

Indianapolis Colts overcome 10-point deficit to beat the Miami Dolphins at Lucas Oil Stadium The Indianapolis Colts rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Miami Dolphins, 16-10, at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Colts improved to 4-3 and are above the .500 mark for the first time this season. Quarterback Anthony Richardson returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with an oblique injury and led the Colts on a 12-play, 69-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter to give them the lead. Kicker Matt Gay made a 22-yard field goal to make it 13-10 with six and a half minutes to play. Dolphins’ kicker Jason Sanders missed a 54-yard attempt off of the upright that would have tied the game in the fourth quarter. Gay later added a 38-yard field goal. The Colts defense then stopped the Dolphins on fourth down at the Miami 33-yard line to seal the game. Richardson started 5-of-18 for 64 yards before finishing the game 10-of-24 for 129. He had no interceptions and was not sacked. Both offenses started slowly before Miami found a rhythm with an 11-play, 58-yard scoring drive capped by a Tyler Huntley to Jonnu Smith 10-yard touchdown in the middle of the first quarter.

The Colts appeared poised to respond with a touchdown of their own, but Richardson fumbled trying to hand the ball off at the Dolphins’ 8-yard line. The biggest play of the drive was a 22-yard run on third down by the second-year quarterback. The teams exchanged punts before Sanders made a 33-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining in the first half to put Miami up 10-0. The Colts answered in the limited time left in the first half. Richardson connected with wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. for 33 yards to get into field goal range. Gay drilled a 52-yard field goal as time expired to cut the deficit to 10-3 at halftime. The teams each punted on their first possessions of the second half. Dolphins’ running back and Purdue product Raheem Mostert then fumbled on Miami’s second drive of the half. Colts linebacker Segun Olubi recovered and returned the ball to the Miami 28-yard line. The Colts took advantage of the short field as Richardson ran for 12 yards, passed to wideout Ashton Dulin for 12 more, and then handed off to running back Tyler Goodson for a 7-yard touchdown to tie the game. The touchdown was the first of Goodson’s NFL career.

Huntley injured his right shoulder in the third quarter after a hit from Colts’ cornerback Kenny Moore II. Huntley was replaced by Tim Boyle for the rest of the game. The Colts inducted tight end Dallas Clark into the franchise’s Ring of Honor at halftime. The team’s first round pick in 2003 holds the club record for catches and touchdowns by a tight end. Clark was also a member of the Super Bowl XLI championship team. The Colts are back on the road next week for a critical divisional matchup with the AFC South-leading Texans at 1 p.m. on CBS.

2024 Big Ten Men’s Soccer Tournament Headed to SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago The Big Ten Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament will have a new home for the 2024 season, with the quarterfinals and semifinals Nov. 7 and 10 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Ill., the conference announced Friday. Both semifinals (Nov. 10 at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET) will be televised live on Big Ten Network and the FOX Sports app, with all three quarterfinal matches (Nov. 7 at 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 6 p.m. ET) broadcast on B1G+. The tournament championship, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17, will be played on the home field of the highest remaining seed and broadcast live on Big Ten Network. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. ET. More information regarding tickets for the Big Ten quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be available at a later date.

Opened in 2006 as Toyota Park, SeatGeek Stadium is the home of the Chicago Hounds of Major League Rugby (MLR), the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and Chicago Fire FC II of Major League Soccer (MLS) Next Pro. The SeatGeek Stadium Sports Complex is conveniently located only 10 minutes away from Midway Airport and 12 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, and it has become a premiere destination for sports, entertainment, and music festivals. No stranger to international competition, SeatGeek Stadium has hosted a handful of World Cup qualification matches, an MLS All-Star game, and several friendly matched between the Chicago Fire and the popular European and Mexican clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur F.C., A.C. Milan, Everton, C.D. Guadalajara, Club America, and Santos Laguna. For more information on SeatGeek Stadium, please visit SeatGeekStadium.com.