Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: INDIANA 20 JANUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L P L A Y O F F total yards, including 83 yards on 41 rushing attempts. Through the air, star quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed only 8 of 18 throws for 68 yards. Rourke has started 45 games between his four years at Ohio and one at Indiana. Only once in those 45 did he throw for fewer yards than he had against Ohio State. That's a Buckeyes defense that ranks fourth in team passing efficiency de- fense. Very stout. Whose defense is even stouter? Notre Dame's is No. 1 in the country in that statistic. There's a collective sense among In- diana players and coaches, though, that having seen what one of the best de- fenses in the nation looks like, up close and way too personal, will only help in a game against another defense of that caliber, like that of Notre Dame. "It was definitely a disappointing loss," Rourke said. "I felt like we didn't play to our standards in that game. It was also a really important game for us, too. A learning opportunity just how to deal with and how to win those big games. "Watching and digesting that game afterward, knowing how well we have to play and we have to minimize our mis- takes and be able to handle the environ- ment. That's what it will take to win these big games." There aren't any sentimental ties for Rourke as it relates to Notre Dame. He's from Oakville, Ontario — yes, that Ontario. The one in Canada. He didn't grow up with posters of any Notre Dame greats on his walls. It's not like he grew up with Toronto Maple Leafs memora- bilia all over the place, though, either. The Rourke family is still one very much centered on football. The Rourkes moved to Alabama so their high school sons could be prop- erly scouted by American universities. It clearly worked out for both of them, Kurtis is a household name in college football now and his older brother, Na- than, is also a former Ohio Bobcat who has spent time in the CFL and NFL over the last handful of seasons. The Irish might have lost to North- ern Illinois this season, but this is not MACtion for Rourke anymore. This is the CFP. This is a defense as good or better than the one he struggled might- ily against at Ohio State. This is Notre Dame. Even a kid from Canada understands that. "They're an historic team," Rourke said. "They've had great teams in the past, and they're a good team this year." CHIP ON THE SHOULDER Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher watched the CFP selection show with his roommate. Nothing extravagant. When he saw his school's name pop up as the No. 10 seed next to No. 7 seed Notre Dame, he put his headphones in, grabbed his backpack and went to the football facility to watch film. What he missed, as a reporter pointed out to him later that afternoon in a press conference, was a lot of dogging on In- diana's résumé. Reverse "rat poison," if you will. "People have opinions everywhere," Fisher said. "You can say strength of schedule, who we play, how we play. We'll handle it when the time comes. That stuff is just opinions. Everybody has one." Including Cignetti. "Our odds of winning the next four games are probably significantly higher than they were of making the Col- lege Football Playoff in the first place," Cignetti said. "So, we've climbed that mountain. Regardless of who we were going to play in the first round, the ob- jective is the same." That objective need not be said, but Cignetti said it anyway. "You win or you go home, and we're in it to win it." It's the genuine belief in that state- ment that should give Notre Dame fans at least a little bit of pause. The Irish have the nation's best point differential at plus-26.3, but the Hoosiers aren't far behind at plus-24.5. In many ways, the two sides' seasons have mirrored each other to this point. A whole lot of play- ing "nobody" but a whole lot of blowing opponents out. One loss apiece, too, and if you're go- ing to a give a nod to Indiana anywhere in this matchup it's in the fact that the Hoosiers don't have a terrible loss like Notre Dame does. Sure, they were ul- timately blown out at Ohio State. But they didn't lose at home to a 7-5 MAC team. It goes back to that belief. Northern Illinois had it and rode it all the way to a 16-14 victory in South Bend. Indiana has it, too, and the Hoosiers are a lot better than the Huskies. But every other iteration of Notre Dame that's shown up in games this season is much better than the one that was defeated by NIU. If we're all treated to the best Notre Dame and Indiana have to offer, then the first 12-team College Football Play- off is bound to kick off with a bang. "I guess we're a newbie to this, so to measure the value of this for Indiana versus Notre Dame, I can't really an- swer that question, but I know winning opens a lot of doors," Cignetti said. ✦ 2024 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 at Texas A&M W, 23-13 Sept. 7 Northern Illinois L, 16-14 Sept. 14 at Purdue W, 66-7 Sept. 21 Miami (Ohio) W, 28-3 Sept. 28 Louisville W, 31-24 Oct. 12 Stanford W, 49-7 Oct. 19 vs. Georgia Tech# W, 31-13 Oct. 26 vs. Navy^ W, 51-14 Nov. 9 Florida State W, 52-3 Nov. 16 Virginia W, 35-14 Nov. 23 vs. Army* W, 49-14 Nov. 30 at USC W, 49-35 Dec. 20 Indiana$ (ABC/ESPN) 8 p.m. # at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta ^ at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. * Shamrock Series at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, N.Y. $ College Football Playoff first round 2024 INDIANA SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 31 FIU W, 31-7 Sept. 6 Western Illinois W, 77-3 Sept. 14 at UCLA W, 42-13 Sept. 21 Charlotte W, 52-14 Sept. 28 Maryland W, 42-28 Oct. 5 at Northwestern W, 41-24 Oct. 19 Nebraska W, 56-7 Oct. 26 Washington W, 31-17 Nov. 2 at Michigan State W, 47-10 Nov. 9 Michigan W, 20-15 Nov. 23 at Ohio State L, 38-15 Nov. 30 Purdue W, 66-0 Dec. 20 at Notre Dame^ (ABC/ESPN) 8 p.m. * College Football Playoff first round