Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
TagsScarlet Knights want their young QB to 'slide' and avoid contact
BY MIKE VORKUNOV
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Homecoming went off without a hitch for Rutgers and so did Tom Savage’s comeback. Although Savage did manage to give everyone a scare or two.
The Scarlet Knights dominated Texas Southern, winning easily, 42-0, but the bigger story was how Savage would look in his first game back after suffering a concussion.
According to coach Greg Schiano “he came out and did what we told him to do.” Except for one thing. Despite coming back from the head injury, he showed no reticence to avoid contact.
On one particular play, a 28-yard run in the second quarter, Savage tried to squeeze between two defenders and tried to get through another by lowering his shoulder and fighting for the extra yard. That didn’t go over well with his coach or his teammates.“I talked to him to work the slide into your repertoire,” Schiano said.
Savage said he took note of his coach’s advice but when in the heat of the moment, he reverted to his natural instinct. That did not go over too well after the play and following the game.
“I thought it was the right move to get extra yards but the coaches got on me, even the players, I just got it in the locker room, everyone was like ‘You gotta learn how to slide,’” Savage said.
“They said, ‘You’re not Mike Vick out there. You gotta learn how to slide.’”
While it may behoove him to get down next time, his play didn’t suffer Saturday. Savage finished the day completing 14 of his 21 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown, a 34-yarder to Tim Brown in the third quarter.
He also rushed gained 41 yards on the ground, several times showing his nonchalance for safety.
Savage’s return took spotlight away from a banner day for the defense. They once again scored a touchdown when David Rowe returned an interception 56 yards, the ninth longest return in Rutgers history, for the first points of the game in the first quarter.
The unit would go on to manhandle the Tigers’ offense. They allowed Texas Southern to gain only 18 yards, left with -33 yards net. The pass rush caused trouble as well.
Rutgers collected seven sacks, 4.5 between Jonathan Freeny and George Johnson.
“I though the defense played really well,” Schiano said of the unit. “They’re flying around. When you take the ball away and score, that’s good stuff.
That the defense scored for the third straight game was not a coincidence in Schiano’s eyes.
“We really talk a lot about [scoring],” said the coach. “When we intercept or scoop a ball, we’re scooping to score.”