Big Ten Daily (Aug. 21): Season Ends Before it Begins for Rutgers LB Mohamed Toure
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano had to break some unfortunate news on Tuesday. Veteran linebacker Mohamed Toure suffered a season-ending ACL injury. It's the second time in three seasons he'll be sidelined with the injury.
Toure had an outstanding 2023 campaign, racking up 93 tackles, 9.5 for loss and 4.5 sacks. He also recorded an interception and forced a fumble, helping the Scarlet Knights to a 7-6 record.
"It's sad, he put so much work into getting ready for the year, but that's the game of football, unfortunately," Schiano said. "There's things like that that happen. As a family, we've surrounded him, we're supporting him, we'll get him through the rehab and we'll get him back and get him reaching his goals and aspirations."
News of Toure's injury is especially disappointing, as he opted to return to Rutgers for the 2024 season rather than declare for the NFL Draft. Coming into the season, he believed the Scarlet Knights had a chance to do something special.
"Once we all had that conversation, [it was] like, 'we can do something special. Let's run it back,'" Toure said on the Reem and Beam Unplugged podcast. "Once we had that conversation, there wasn't [any] doubt in my mind. All my brothers [are] with it, we're all on the same page - let's do it."
Rutgers is a team many believe will be a dark horse in the Big Ten this season. The Scarlet Knights brought in quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis from Minnesota, return Kyle Monangai — the conference's leading rusher in 2023 — and four starting offensive linemen are back.
Defensively, Schiano's team returned eight defensive starters from last year's squad. That number is now down to seven with Toure's injury.
Schiano expressed confidence in the depth at the linebacker position and is optimistic someone will step up in Toure's place. But that doesn't make the injury any less disappointing.
Michigan's quarterback race
New Michigan coach Sherrone Moore hasn't provided any real updates regarding the quarterback race in Ann Arbor, but we might be down to two candidates. Big Ten Network's Dave Revsine revealed that the current battle is between Davis Warren and Alex Orji, while Jack Tuttle still recovers from injury.
"It's not gonna be Jack Tuttle, at least initially," Revsine said during BTN's stop in Ann Arbor on the training camp tour. "He's working his back from an injury, so it's a two-man race at quarterback."
Warren and Orji have both appeared in nine games with the Wolverines. The number of meaningful snaps is incredibly low, though. Neither one really had an edge experience-wise entering fall camp.
That may not be much of an update, but now we know the quarterback battle in Ann Arbor is down to two players — at least for now.
Oregon-Ohio State kickoff time
One of the biggest matchups on the Big Ten schedule now has a broadcast network and kickoff time. According to FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt, the Oct. 12 matchup between Oregon and Ohio State is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET start with the game airing on NBC.
Neither school nor NBC has confirmed the news.
Ohio State and Oregon are considered the two best teams in the Big Ten entering the 2024 season. Although they'll play once in the regular season, many anticipate the two will have a rematch at Lucas Oil Stadium in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 7.
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DUSTIN SCHUTTE