PISCATAWAY, N.J. –There were times in his previous four years at Rutgers that people were in the ear of Mohamed Toure. They were telling the linebacker that the Scarlet Knights weren’t going to turn things around, that he needed to leave the program and transfer.
Now on Saturday, Rutgers 6-2 (3-2 Big Ten) hosts No. 1 Ohio State (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) in a game that has the potential to show just how far Toure and his teammates have come.
The Rutgers linebacker has held an unwavering belief in head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag], who returned to the program in 2020. It was Schiano who built Rutgers up two decades ago, and Toure saw a similar mentality when the head coach was brought back to the program.
Toure joined Rutgers as part of the 2019 recruiting class, the last group brought in by former head coach Chris Ash. This is his first season where Rutgers has a winning record at Halloween, underscoring just how difficult this rebuild has been.
Two weeks ago, Rutgers became bowl-eligible with a 31-14 win at Indiana.
And now, with Saturday fast coming into view, Toure believes that those rough years have paid dividends. That it was worthwhile to stick it through at Rutgers and not leave.
“Once Schiano got here, honestly, all of those thoughts kind of left my head,” Toure told Rutgers Wire after practice on Wednesday.
“I looked him up. I saw what kind of guy he was when he got here. I see. I saw he was serious about his business and he wanted to win and that’s we have this common goal.”
In high school, Toure was a three-star recruit out of Pleasantville High School (Pleasantville, New Jersey. He held offers from Boston College, UConn, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Wisconsin among others.
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Opportunities like Saturday against the top team in the nation are why Toure stuck around with Rutgers football through some very lean years. On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff rankings announced Ohio State as the top team in their rankings.
Toure said he found out about the Buckeyes ranking via social media.
“It’s an opportunity,” Toure said.
“These are the kind of opportunities that you dreamed up as a kid honestly. Like you get to play against the number one team in the country, you know? Get to go out and show the world what you can do.”
It is a measuring stick game for Rutgers for sure. Earlier in the season at No. 3 Michigan, Rutgers hung tight with the Wolverines through the third quarter.
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He said there was some buzz in the locker room about Ohio State’s ranking but there isn’t necessarily any added juice for Saturday’s game. Saturday is a battle of two teams in the top half of the Big Ten.
“Definitely – we were amped up regardless,” Toure said.
“We’re just ready to play.”
Toure suffered a season-ending knee injury last spring. This year, he has bounced back and is playing what is the best football of his life.
With eight games played this season, his 50 total tackles are just one shy of his career-best number, set in 2021.
He also has 1.5 sacks and two passes defended as well as a fumble recovery.
Scroll down and check out some of the best photos of Mohamed Toure during his time with Rutgers football!