Greg Schiano's quarterback strategy questionable
Rutgers fans have been disappointed by the performance of sophomore quarterback Tom Savage, who was 8-3 as the starting quarterback as a freshman during the Scarlet Knights' 9-4 season last year. But Schiano has risked Savage's confidence, not to mention his progress, by experimenting with the wildcat offense using talented wide receiver Mohamed Sanu to take the snap in the shotgun offense.
Except for one touchdown drive covering all of 20 yards yesterday, the wildcat failed miserably in Rutgers' 17-13 home loss to a North Carolina team playing without 12 suspended players. As soon as Savage would make a big play, it seemed, Schiano would switch to the wildcat, and except for that one TD drive, the Knights stalled every time.
Savage was forced to come off the bench repeatedly in third-and-long situations and try to bail out his teammates and the coach. Not only that but Savage suffered a painful rib injury just before halftime and showed tremendous courage just by getting back on the field in the second half.
In the end, Savage completed 16 of 29 passes for 150 yards, but he threw two interceptions in the red zone. In his defense, he had to come off the bench facing third-and-22 at the Carolina 29 in the first half, and he took a shot down the middle and was picked off by linebacker Bruce Carter. The second interception came at the end of the game when Savage finally got a full drive at quarterback and took the Knights from their 20 to Carolina's 23. But then, he threw behind Jeremy Deering and was intercepted by Matt Merletti.
Asked if the wildcat might interfere with the chance for Savage to develop a rhythm at quarterback, Schiano said, "We have studied a lot of wildcat teams. I don't think it affected Arkansas when they were doing it really well. When you are doing it poorly, it affects you. When you're cooking, it's 10-0 and you're moving the ball and scoring everybody loves it."
Actually, the wildcat stopped Rutgers' first drive after Savage hit a 37-yard pass to Carolina's 22-yard line. On first-and-10 at the 12, Sanu gained two yards, and then Savage came back in and threw two incompletions before a field goal by San San Te. In the second half, Rutgers got the ball at Carolina's 34-yard line and drove only 13 yards on 7 plays, including six with Sanu at quarterback before settling for another Te field goal that cut the Tar Heels' lead to 14-13.
Sanu compiled some interesting statistics, including 15 carries for 41 yards (a 2.7 average), nine catches for 74 yards and one pass completion for seven yards. But overall, Rutgers rushed for only 87 yards, and Sanu's 15 carries outnumbered the combined 13 rushes by tailbacks Jordan Thomas and Joe Martinek.
Asked to evaluate the success of the wildcat when Savage had to come in so many times on third-and-long, Schiano said, "Not successful enough with 87 yards rushing. That's for sure. I can tell you what could have been, but what is, is 87 yards rushing. So, it wasn't productive enough."
Savage faulted himself for throwing the two interceptions, but he admitted his rhythm isn't what it should be. "I think 'struggling to get my rhythm' is a good term," Savage said. "It's just me. The guys are open. Everyone sees it. Our offense did a lot of good things. There's a lot of things we can improve on which falls to me.
"We're going to be the offense we planned on being at the beginning of the season. It's frustrating when you know you can do it; it's frustrating when you've made those throws before; it's frustrating when you know the guys are open. I know my talent, and I know I can make those throws. And I will."
First, Savage has to deal with his rib injury, which might force him to miss next Saturday's Tulane game in order to be ready for the Big East opener the following Friday, Oct. 8 against Connecticut. Whenever Savage returns, he deserves to get a fair shot to really play quarterback instead of being jerked in and out to accommodate Sanu. As a sophomore, he should be taking a step forward, not a step backward.
