PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is still feeling the effects of his team's stunning season-opening loss to UMass.
The Minutemen, 29 1/2-point underdogs, beat Rutgers 37-21 Thursday night.
“We laid an egg,” Schiano said Tuesday. “We were the national punchline. Yeah, it’s embarrassing. Embarrassing that we coached and played the way we played. And it starts with me and ends with me. It’s my job to get them ready to play. We didn’t
do that. But that’s in the past.”
The Scarlet Knights were outplayed in every facet against the Minutemen. UMass piled up 397 yards and gave up just 30 yards rushing. Rutgers led 7-0 before UMass reeled off 30 straight points.
“You know how I know when it’s really, really bad is when I start getting text messages from people I haven’t heard from in five years, ‘Hey, hang in there buddy,’” Schiano said.
Schiano announced that AJ Surace will start at quarterback on Friday at Boston College for the Eagles' annual “Red Bandana″ game honoring Welles Crowther, a former lacrosse player at the school and volunteer firefighter who is credited for saving lives on 9/11 while wearing a red bandana.
Surace replaces Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan, who started the opener but left before the final drive due to injury after throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble.
Schiano did not provide details on Lonergan’s injury.
“Dylan (Lonergan) was removed because of injury,” Schiano said. “He has not been able to practice, so AJ is going to be the starting quarterback. We don’t know if Dylan will be available in an emergency role. If you don’t practice, it’s awful hard to be ready, but he has cumulative repetitions, so it’s our hope that if he can feel well by game time that we can have him dressed. He is extremely disappointed. Having played there last year, this was a homecoming of sorts.”
Surace passed for 77 yards and a touchdown on 6-of-9 passing in his one drive against UMass. He threw just nine passes in three games as the backup last season to Athan Kaliakmanis, who was drafted in the spring by Washington.
Lonergan and Surace battled for the starting job in what Schiano called “a tough decision.”
“They (Lonergan and Surace) really made it hard on me, because they both performed very well in that whole stretch of time," Schiano said.
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