PISCATAWAY – AJ Surace and Dylan Lonergan aren’t exactly making the decision easy.
Rutgers football played its first scrimmage of training camp on Saturday, Aug. 15 and both quarterbacks, who are battling for the starting job, did well enough to reinforce that there’s no clear-cut winner just yet.
Could that happen soon?
Maybe.
“I thought they both played well,” coach Greg Schiano said following the scrimmage at SHI Stadium. “They’re making it harder and harder. We'll all study the tape today and tonight and tomorrow we'll have extensive meetings, and if there is enough separation, we'll make a decision. If there isn't, just keep going. At some point, it'll happen.”
The Scarlet Knights are at the midway point of camp with just under three weeks until their season opener against UMass.
Schiano has made it clear he won’t rush the decision.
Lonergan and Surace are making sure he and offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca aren’t able to.
Both are getting equal opportunities to prove themselves – each get reps with the starters so it’s a fair evaluation.
A scrimmage performance does hold more weight, but it doesn’t erase what they did in previous practices, either.
“It factors in more than a regular practice,” Schiano said. “Why? Because of the setting that you're doing it in. The coaches are on the sidelines. It's as close to playing Big Ten football as you’re going to play. So it does factor in more. This was practice 12. But all the stuff they did that leading up to that certainly has an impact on our decision.”
For now, the competition continues.
Here are more takeaways from the scrimmage:
Young wide receivers play well
Wide receiver continues to be a promising position for Rutgers.
The scrimmage reflected that.
While KJ Duff is clearly the leader, younger wideouts such as Vernon Allen, Dyzier Carter and Jordin Houston all had solid showings.
They all will likely have chances to make a big impact on the offense this season.
“I think they're getting better,” Schiano said. “I think KJ's doing a great job with leading them. I think Coach (Dave) Brock, he's doing a great job with coaching them. And we're making progress.”
Rutgers football's defense coming together
This was a prime opportunity for Schiano and defensive coordinator Travis Johansen to see how the defense is adjusting to the new scheme – important considering the turnover with both personnel and coaching staff.
“When you look at it as a coach, as a head coach, you look at scheme, fundamentals and then connectivity,” Schiano said. “I think the scheme, they’re sound, people are really learning it well. Technique, when we watch this tape, there will be technique issues, especially with the second and third team, that we’ve really got to get fixed this week. That's why I said this week will be a critical, critical week on both sides of the ball and on the kicking game.”
Connectivity for Schiano just as important.
Rutgers brought in more than a dozen transfers on defense and getting everyone on the same page is paramount for the Scarlet Knights to play the type of defense that they’re aiming for – the type of defense that’s became a hallmark of previous Schiano teams.
“Playing defense is 11 as one,” Schiano said. “You’ve got to go. It's 11 guys doing their job, then you’ve got to swarm the football. When we've had great defenses here, it looks like piranhas. And that's what we need to have, a defense that looks like that.”
One of those transfers is linebacker Sean Allison, who spent the previous three seasons at Drake. The 6-foot, 235-pound Allison impressed Schiano in the scrimmage as he makes his case for a prominent role.
Rutgers has younger depth on that side of the ball – true freshman defensive lineman Rinaldo Callaway III also played well in his time on the field with the younger players.
“I always tell them when you throw the tape on, I want people to say, ‘ooh, that's different,’” Schiano said. “That's effort, right? That’s just going as hard as you can. Because a lot of times on defense if you know your job and you go as hard as you can, even if you’re not perfect, it works itself out.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Here's what Greg Schiano is saying after Rutgers football's scrimmage