Kurtis Rourke walked off the field at Notre Dame Stadium, his final NCAA game in the rear-view mirror, having made the most of his time as a college football quarterback.

In going from Holy Trinity Secondary School in Oakville, Ont. to Ohio University, where he backed up big brother, Nathan, to becoming the Mid-American Conference player of the year and to Indiana as starting quarterback in the first ever 12-team playoff format, Rourke experienced it all.

Where it goes from here is a fascinating question.

But first some takes on his final college game, a 27-17 loss at Notre Dame that wasn't nearly as close as the final score suggests. The same could be said for Rourke's final numbers – 20 of 33 for 215 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception – which got a huge jolt from two late-game touchdown drives that began after the Fighting Irish established a four-score lead.

When Indiana needed to score, they couldn't.

Not during the first half when an interception in Notre Dame territory was immediately turned into a red-zone interception for Rourke. And not during the second half when, with a comeback still within reach, the Hoosiers mounted a total of five yards of offence on their first three drives.

Those results supported a narrative going into this game that Indiana's offence, which had the highest points per game average among the 12........

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