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TagsBY MIKE VORKUNOV
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
In an otherwise quiet and empty locker room, Tom Savage stood surrounded. Enclosed by a mob of reporters, he was peppered with one uncomfortable question after another. Questions about his health, his fundamentals and his self-confidence. Questions that belied his golden boy status.
Savage had the room to himself and the glare was right on him, whether he liked it or not.
Mommas wouldn't raise their boys to be quarterbacks if they knew they would end up in times like these.
It was, with little doubt, a trying day for Savage in Rutgers' 17-13 loss to North Carolina. A continuation of a trying season. His numbers, superficially, looked good enough. But numbers can lie.
He completed 16-of-29 passes for 150 yards, but also threw two interceptions. One came with less than three minutes remaining and Rutgers in the red-zone, on the precipice of a come-from-behind victory. That would have been a tale worth telling in Savage's lore.
He found his favorite option Mohamed Sanu nine times for 74 yards, but at times he would not look off of him. And with the offense sputtering and struggling for inches, he was running off and on the field to make room for Sanu to run the Wildcat.To add injury to insult, he missed the better part of the third quarter after a hit to the ribs left him under the trainer's microscope.
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He had redemption at his fingertips when North Carolina went three-and-out trying to run out the clock, and left Rutgers with the ball at the UNC 34-yard line and 2:21 remaining. But three missed receivers and a sack later, it wasn't to be.
"I know he's hurting right now," said his coach, Greg Schiano. "But you know, that's what the great stories are made of; when you lead your team back, limping, everybody wants to write about those when they work. When they don't work, hey, it didn't work."
That could have been a moment that started to paint Savage's legacy. Instead he had to deal with the press.
He is still just a sophomore quarterback, making only his 13th career collegiate start. But the expectations of him have grown further than that and he has struggled to fulfill them this year.
"I wasn't really going against the defense, I was going against myself," he said. "All the throws are there, just same story. Got to get them off and I will get them off."
Savage has always been upfront about putting any issues on his shoulders. Now, whether it's fair for a 19-year old to be taking that burden or not, it's placed upon him involuntarily. And he has to deal with the questions.
"It's frustrating when you know you can do it," he said. "It's frustrating when you've made the throws before. It's frustrating when you know the guys are open and I know my talent. I know I can make those throws and that's it. And I will."
Savage looked and spoke like an exasperated man Saturday night. It was not surprising. The nature of his position leaves him alone to answer all the questions. And the questions are becoming tougher.
