How AJ Surace, Dylan Lonergan are viewing Rutgers football QB battle
PISCATAWAY – AJ Surace had already been with Rutgers football for two years as a backup quarterback, working and developing with the hope of eventually becoming the program’s starter.
But for a program that prides itself on competition, jobs aren’t won easily. Everything must be earned.
The Scarlet Knights added the Boston College transfer this offseason, infusing the QB room with more experience and another competitor for the starting job to replace Athan Kaliakmanis .
Both Surace and Lonergan are embracing the battle.
“There's always competition within the room, between everybody,” Surace said after Rutgers ’ second spring practice on March 28. “I think as a whole room, we're constantly competing with each other. So, I mean, it really didn't change much for me. It's just still about getting a little bit better and trying to be the best I can be.”
Coach Greg Schiano said the coaching staff evaluated multiple quarterbacks in the portal before deciding Lonergan, who started out as a Nick Saban recruit and spent two years at Alabama before transferring to Boston College, was the right one to add to the program.
Lonergan, a Georgia native, wasn’t deterred by not being promised the starting job.
“He told me exactly what it was going to be,” Lonergan said. “Knew it was going to be a competition and it’s all about that. So we're excited. We all come to work every single day and we all compete against each other to make each other better. So it's been really good.”
For now it’s about learning Kirk Ciarrocca’s system.
“It's been really good,” Lonergan said. “It's pretty different from what I've done in the past, but I think it's, I've picked it up really well, and obviously still trying to grow and learn every single day, and being now out on the field makes that a lot easier, just getting those real reps out.”
Lonergan said he didn’t know too much about Rutgers before entering the portal, but the Scarlet Knights reached out quickly and brought Lonergan in for a visit.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Lonergan was impressed by what he saw and learned – enough to quickly make up his mind about where he wanted to land.
“I think nowadays, no one really knows what to expect with the portal,” Lonergan said. “And the decision to come here is a no-brainer. I think competition’s competition. I went through last year and I'm not afraid of it and it's not like I'm against another person. We’re all working together, working to be the best we can be as a team.”
Ciarrocca said he felt Lonergan’s skillset was right for Rutgers’ offense and felt he had a “lot of growth potential.”
When asked when he’d like to determine who the starter would be, Ciarrocca echoed Schiano’s desire to let the situation play itself out without rushing to make a determination.
“It's going to be based on their performance out there in the practice field and doing this as long as I have, it becomes apparent at some point,” Ciarrocca said. “You certainly hope that is the case, that it becomes apparent. And when that time comes, Coach and I will sit down and talk about it, and ultimately he'll make that decision. He’ll want my input, but he's going to make that decision with it. But it'll play itself out. I'm not in any hurry or anything like that.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers football: AJ Surace, Dylan Lonergan discuss QB battle
