Nebraska's football team has a head start in October due to a serious injury at Rutgers

When the Nebraska football team takes on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, the duel will be a little easier than the Huskers would have thought a week ago. Unfortunately, Greg Schiano's team will be without one of its best defensive stars.

Every team deals with some serious injuries this time of year, but the injury news seems to hit Rutgers harder than most. That's because the Scarlet Knights were expected to make a big splash in the Big Ten this season. They were even considered underdogs to challenge for the title, if not given much of a chance to actually win it.

Schiano's team was the darling of the offseason. It obviously still could be, but if Nebraska football has to face this up-and-coming spoiler team, the Knights will be without their top linebacker and captain, Mo Touré.

“Greg Schiano just announced that linebacker and captain Mo Touré will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL,” said the Rutgers sports reporter. Pat Lanni posted earlier this week. “This is a big blow to a defense that relied on his dynamic abilities. There's more to come.”

The news must be especially heartbreaking since Mohamed Touré also missed the entire 2022 season due to another injury. And if healthy, he's a game-changer for a Rutgers team that will need to see its defense as a strength in 2024.

Last year, Toure had 84 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 3.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 interception, all of which showed that the linebacker was an all-around defender that the Scarlet Knights will sorely miss.

It's tough for the Nebraska football team to qualify for a bowl game this year, especially after they came close to it last season but then lost their last four games. Of course, it's never nice to see a player get injured, especially one this bad, but for business reasons, the Huskers will benefit from Toure not being on the field when the two teams meet on October 5.