Ohio University standout quarterback Kurtis Rourke said Tuesday night that he tore the ACL and meniscus in his knee and underwent season-ending surgery.

Rourke injured the right knee in the Bobcats’ 32-18 road win over Ball State on Nov. 15.

“Over the weekend we got the news that I tore my ACL and meniscus and that I need surgery,” Rourke said during ESPN’s broadcast of Tuesday night’s game between Ohio and Bowling Green. “I got that pretty fast. There wasn’t a lot of swelling and I was able to get surgery right away.”

Rourke was enjoying a strong season with 3,256 yards, 25 touchdown and four interceptions. He is expected to be named the Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year after the season.

The timing is rough for the Bobcats (8-3, 6-1 MAC) as they are still in the hunt to win the conference title. Ohio last won one in 1968.

CJ Harris made his first career start on Tuesday against Bowling Green.

“It’s a tough break for Kurtis,” Ohio head coach Tim Albin said in a statement. “He’s a great quarterback, captain and person, so this impacts us on multiple levels. Kurtis will play a key part in the coming weeks, helping CJ and the entire team prepare for the rest of the season. We will be right behind him through the rehabilitation.”

Rourke is the younger brother of Nathan Rourke, the starting quarterback for the CFL’s BC Lions.

“Our family was heartbroken to learn of Kurtis’ injury, especially after his incredible breakout year,” Nathan Rourke said on Twitter. “While we acknowledge that the road ahead of him will be long, we have full certainty that Kurtis will return to his playing form to play at the level that he has.”

Our family was heartbroken to learn of Kurtis' injury, especially after his incredible breakout year. While we acknowledge that the road ahead of him will be long, we have full certainty that Kurtis will return to his playing form to play at the level that he has. #GoBobcats https://t.co/JRyKJuhm2t

— Nathan Rourke (@nathan_rourke) November 23, 2022

–Field Level Media

First-year Washington coach Kalen DeBoer had his contract extended through the 2028 season on Tuesday.

DeBoer has guided the Huskies to a 9-2 record so far, establishing a program record for victories by a first-year coach. Washington is currently ranked 13th in the College Football Playoff rankings.

“My family and I have loved every minute of being here at this amazing institution in this world-class city,” DeBoer said in a statement. “We talk all the time about how it’s the people who set a place apart and Husky Nation is filled with some of the best we have ever encountered. We are incredibly grateful for the support we have received and are excited to continue to build on the amazing tradition of success we have here at the University of Washington.”

DeBoer initially received a five-year deal worth up to $16.5 million. According to reports, he will receive a $1 million raise for 2023 to at least $4.2 million and will get annual raises of $100,000.

The 48-year-old coach reportedly will receive $500,000 retention bonuses in March 2024 and March 2026 and a $1 million retention bonus if he is still the Huskies’ coach on March 15, 2028.

DeBoer will reportedly owe Washington $12 million if he leaves before Jan. 31, 2025. The buyout is lowered to $10 million if he exits before Jan. 31, 2026, and $7 million if he leaves before Jan. 31, 2027.

The Huskies look for their first 10-win season since 2018 when they visit Washington State in the Apple Cup on Saturday night.

“It is clear that Kalen is such an amazing fit at the University of Washington,” athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement. “He has come in and made an incredible impact in every aspect of the program, our department, the University and the Seattle community. Kalen is an elite competitor who approaches each and every situation with the utmost class and integrity. We couldn’t be more excited that he and his family will be on Montlake for the foreseeable future leading these tremendous young men in our football program.”

DeBoer is in his third season as a major college head coach. He went 12-6 in two seasons at Fresno State prior to taking the Huskies’ job.

Earlier in his career, DeBoer went 67-3 and won three NAIA national championships during a stint at Sioux Falls from 2005-09.

–Field Level Media

Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU occupied the first four positions of the College Football Playoff rankings for the third straight week, with two-loss LSU claiming the No. 5 spot in the newest edition of the rankings Tuesday.

LSU and Southern California each moved up one spot to Nos. 5 and 6, respectively. Alabama, Clemson, Oregon and Tennessee rounded out the top 10. Tennessee dropped five spots after its surprise 63-38 loss to South Carolina that featured a torn ACL to the Vols’ Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback, Hendon Hooker.

USC beat then-No. 16 UCLA in a 48-45 thriller Saturday, improving the Trojans’ record to 10-1.

USC’s only loss came in October on the road at Utah, currently ranked No. 14, 43-42. But LSU (9-2) has wins over Ole Miss and Alabama, which were ranked in the top seven nationally at the times of the games.

“There’s reasons for USC to be at 5. There’s reasons for LSU to be at 5,” CFP chairman Boo Corrigan said in an ESPN interview. “As we looked at it, (LSU’s) wins over Alabama and Mississippi carried the day more so than (USC’s) wins over UCLA and Oregon State. … The good win that (USC) had on Saturday was 48-45. I think some of the members of the committee, as we looked at it, wanted to see a little bit more from their defense, as well as the overall strength of schedule from LSU.”

Each top-four team stayed in place after a nail-biting week. Georgia went on the road and beat Kentucky 16-6; Ohio State rallied from a halftime deficit to top Maryland 43-30; and Michigan and TCU needed last-second field goals to beat Illinois and Baylor, respectively.

Second-ranked Ohio State hosts No. 3 Michigan on Saturday.

The quartet are the only four unbeaten teams left in FBS.

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. TCU
5. LSU
6. Southern California
7. Alabama
8. Clemson
9. Oregon
10. Tennessee
11. Penn State
12. Kansas State
13. Washington
14. Utah
15. Notre Dame
16. Florida State
17. North Carolina
18. UCLA
19. Tulane
20. Ole Miss
21. Oregon State
22. UCF
23. Texas
24. Cincinnati
25. Louisville

–Field Level Media

Missouri can secure bowl eligibility while Arkansas will try to raise its bowl profile when these Southeastern Conference rivals meet Friday in Columbia, Mo.

The Tigers (5-6, 2-5 SEC) and Razorbacks (6-5, 3-4) have dubbed this annual game the Battle Line Rivalry. A trophy will be at stake on Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.

Missouri won five straight games in the series before Arkansas prevailed 34-17 last season.

“The only thing we’re focused on is it’s a rivalry game and it’s trophy week,” Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “That’s it. None of the other stuff matters. The most important thing to us is that they have a trophy and we want it and the only way to get it is to play our best game and to prepare the way that we know how to prepare and to play with unbelievable effort.

“That’s the focus and that’s why we did Senior Week last week. This week is all about rivalry week, Arkansas and the Battle Line trophy.”

Missouri rolled to a 45-14 victory over New Mexico State in their previous game after suffering a 66-24 beating at Tennessee. Brady Cook continued his improved play by completing 19 of 27 passes for 251 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 71 yards on seven carries.

“I felt like with the way things ended against Tennessee, I thought it was really important for us to bounce back,” Drinkwitz said. “Offensively, to score on our first three drives, to score on this opening series of both the first half and second half which was the first time we’ve done that all year ? there was real growth there to convert some big third downs and we converted the fourth down.”

The Razorbacks are coming off a 42-27 upset of then-No. 14 Ole Miss. They got quarterback KJ Jefferson back from his clavicle injury and their offensive clicked back into high gear.

“Man, it’s nice to have KJ back,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “We weren’t too clean on the first two drives, first two scoring drives, but he made us clean because of his athleticism.”

Jefferson completed 17 of 22 passes for 168 yards and three touchdowns against the Rebels. He also rushed for 47 yards on eight carries.

“When you have a guy behind you like that, it builds confidence in you when you have a big runner that can physically run over people,” Pittman said. “I mean, on the draw play, they all came inside, and he cut outside for 20, 30 yards. When you have a guy back there that can break tackles and make things happen, you play a little bit better, to be honest with you.”

The Arkansas offense has averaged 34.9 points per game with Jefferson and just 13.5 in two games in which Jefferson has been sidelined.

On defense, the Razorbacks may be missing cornerstone linebacker Bumper Pool, who is battling hip and back injuries. Pool is second on the club with 92 tackles.

“Bumper is still Bumper and trying to hang on,” Pittman said. “I don’t know that he’ll be able to or not. He’s beat up, not healthy. We’re bowl eligible. I don’t know if he’ll be able to play or not.”

–Field Level Media

No. 23 Texas will look to keep its chances of playing for the Big 12 Conference championship alive when it hosts Baylor on Friday in Austin in the teams’ final-regular season game.

The Longhorns (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) must beat Baylor and have Kansas beat No. 12 Kansas State on Saturday night to earn a berth opposite undefeated TCU in the league championship game. The Bears (6-5, 4-4) already are bowl-eligible and will aim to derail their longtime rival’s title hopes.

“We all understand the ramifications of where it’s at in the Big 12,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “We don’t shy away from those things. We’ve got to do our part and see what happens after that.”

The Longhorns re-entered the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday after a dominating 55-14 road victory over Kansas on Saturday, their second win in their past three games.

Bijan Robinson rushed for a career-high 243 yards and four touchdowns in just three quarters as the Longhorns finished with 539 total yards — 427 on the ground. Texas also got 108 yards on 11 carries from Jonathon Brooks in an effort that included two TDs in the fourth quarter, one of which covered 70 yards.

The victory over Kansas ensured that Texas will have a winning season, and at No. 24, the Longhorns also moved back into the AP Top 25 as the only four-loss team that’s ranked. Texas’ four losses are by a combined 18 points.

“You can always look back and play the ‘what-if’ game,” Sarkisian said. “‘What if’ this play and ‘what if’ that play in a couple of other ballgames, but in the end, the resiliency our guys have shown, I’m very proud of that.”

Baylor came within a hold-your-breath, last-play field goal of ruining TCU’s undefeated season in a 29-28 loss in Waco on Saturday. The Bears will head into the regular-season finale looking to secure their 11th seven-win season in the past 13 years.

The Bears churned out 501 yards of total offense — their fourth game of the season with 500-plus yards — kept the ball for nearly 34 minutes and effectively shut down explosive TCU until the last seven minutes. Baylor’s Blake Shapen passed for 269 yards and a touchdown while Monaray Baldwin made six catches for 123 yards.

“I think always the emphasis is where I’m at right now, this is who I could become,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “And then further, just collectively, this is where we’re at right now, this is what we could become. You look at that game this past Saturday, and the effort, the speed and just all of it, that’s us right there. We just have to be able to execute better.”

The Longhorns lead the overall series 79-28-4, including a 48-10-2 all-time mark in games played in Austin. Baylor captured last year’s contest in Waco 31-24 but has not won in Austin since 2014, a three-game losing streak.

–Field Level Media

Not that long ago, there was a time when a meeting between Oklahoma and Texas Tech meant plenty of offensive firepower.

The 2016 meeting featuring Baker Mayfield, at quarterback for the Sooners, against the Red Raiders’ Patrick Mahomes, set a handful of NCAA records.

But entering Saturday’s regular-season finale between the teams at Lubbock, Texas, offensive consistency is a problem area.

Proven capable of explosive plays, each team also has encountered flattening lulls.

While the two rank second and third in the Big 12 in total offense, they’re seventh and eighth in the league in scoring offense.

“We’ve been due,” Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “It’s not always perfect. There are a bunch of things to clean up.”

The Sooners (6-5, 3-5 Big 12) showed their explosiveness early last week, turning in one of the most productive quarters in program history in building a 28-0 lead over Oklahoma State.

Then the offense went dormant, with only two first downs in the second half.

Oklahoma was able to win that game thanks to its defense, which Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley said is starting to look much more like the defenses Sooners coach Brent Venables had at Clemson.

“These last two to three weeks, they started to play a lot better defense, going kind of back to this basic stuff they were doing there at Clemson, but they’re very multiple, they’re a high-pressure team. They’re going to blitz you.”

Texas Tech (6-4, 4-4) has won back-to-back games for the first time since the first two games of the season.

In the first four games of conference play, the Red Raiders averaged nearly 520 yards per game. Since, they’ve averaged just more than 350 yards.

They were held to just 246 total yards in last week’s 14-10 win over Iowa State.

Tyler Shough is expected to make his third consecutive start at quarterback for Texas Tech.

“Tyler’s done a good job of coming in and doing what we thought,” Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire said. “He’s getting closer and closer to where we really know who he is and what he can be. But Behren (Morton) will be ready to go.”

Morton hasn’t played since Nov. 5.

The Sooners have won the last 10 meetings between the programs. Texas Tech has not beaten Oklahoma in Lubbock since 2009.

–Field Level Media