Rutgers is in the midst of yet another quarterback competition and to no one’s surprise, a final decision is not close.
Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano joined Big Ten Network on Tuesday to discuss many topics around the Scarlet Knights. One thing on everyone’s mind has been the starting quarterback battle between AJ Surace and Dylan Lonergan.
“It’s still playing out,” Schiano said. “People say, ‘well you know, you haven’t made a decision.‘ And it wasn’t because neither performed. It was because both
performed.”
Schiano did not provide a timetable as to when a starter will be named — and that follows a common theme.
The Scarlet Knights have a recent history of quarterback battles and Schiano has never been quick to name a starter. The one outlier is when Athan Kaliakmanis transferred in from Minnesota, he was quickly named the starter so Gavin Wimsatt was given enough time to transfer. Now that Kaliakmanis is off to the NFL, the Scarlet Knights will look for their next starter.
Longeran is a former four-star who committed to Alabama out of high school. Last season, he made nine starts for Boston College. Longergan totaled 2,025 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 66.9% of his passes. Surace has stayed at Rutgers since committing as an in-state product.
“I think they both performed at a pretty high level,” Schiano said. “I’d say something for Dylan, because he came in and this is a new system for him. AJ Surace has done a really good job the last two years, learning the system, becoming part of the program, and they’re going to compete.”
The competition will continue on in the summer and into training camp prior to the start of the regular season. It would not be a surprise to see Schiano wait until game week to officially announce his starter but it could come at any point during camp.
“At some point, Coach Ciarrocca and myself will make a decision,” Schiano said. “I trust Kirk, really, to do everything offensively. He runs the program on that side of the ball and he and I will sit down at some point in training camp to make a decision.”
