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Illinois head football coach Tim Beckman announced hours before the Illini's spring game that freshman running back Dre Brown suffered a torn anterior curate ligament during Thursday's practice.
Saw the play where Dre Brown tore his ACL on Thursday. It was nothing. 20 yards downfield, cut to his left untouched, came up gimpy.
— Robert (@ALionEye) April 18, 2015
Brown was ranked the 14th best player in Illinois and 53rd best running back in the nation by 247sports.com.
Brown ran for 1,728 yards on 8.7 yards per carry last season at DeKalb, Ill., landing him an honorable mention on Chicago Football's all-area team. He led DeKalb to its first winning season in 25 years, a 9-2 season.
The freshman is the second Illinois player to suffered the injury this spring along with All-American wide receiver Mike Dudek, whose injury occurred just 10 days ago.
The Illini went 6-7 in 2014, but made it to a bowl game, a 35-18 loss to Louisana Tech in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, for the first time in Beckman's tenure.