Football

A reliable source tells me that Devoe Torrence, the nation’s No. 6 athlete who was recently acquitted of rape charges, will join the Zips for fall camp which starts Sunday.

If true, Torrence would be the most touted recruit ever to play for Akron. He had scholarship offers from Ohio State, Michigan and other BCS schools before his legal issues arose. Torrence committed to Ohio State, but never signed a letter of intent in February because the Buckeyes retracted their scholarship offer.

Torrence was charged with having sex with a 12-year-old girl. The judge declared that evidence was lacking, mainly because the victim admitted her tendency to lie.

Torrence, 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, played running back at Massillon Washington High School. Although some colleges felt he’d make a terrific linebacker, Torrence was slated to play running back for the Buckeyes, too.

Running a 4.55 in the 40-yard dash, Torrence is not the fastest or shiftiest rusher around, but it takes a lot of manpower to tackle him. He is a physical runner who sheds tacklers with ease. Rivals.com gives him four stars and calls him the No. 66 player in the nation for the 2008 class. Scout.com is less praising, saying Torrence is only the No. 102 running back.

As I stated, this is from a source that I trust, but I cannot verify the story myself. Given that Torrence joined the team in the past couple days, the 2008 roster does not reflect his addition.

If true, Torrence would join a crowded backfield that includes incumbent (sort of) Dennis Kennedy, University of Miami transfer Andrew Johnson, reliable Alex Allen and short-yardage runner Joe Tuzze. His fastest route to the field might be on defense.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 at 11:10 am and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.