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BY MIKE VORKUNOV

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Chas Dodd said there were no pangs of nervousness last night. Not before his first collegiate start, not as he was burdened with rescuing his team from a touchdown deficit late into the fourth quarter. It wasn't because he had faced the circumstances before; he could not remember a moment like the one he had last night where he led Rutgers on several scoring drives within the last four minutes to steal a 27-24 win over Connecticut.

It may have come from the fact that he has experience overcoming obstacles and proving his detractors wrong. That is why the win was a source of personal pride beyond just the standings.

It stems from Dodd himself, namely that there wasn't more of him. Dodd isn't the biggest guy. He is generously listed at six feet tall and 197 pounds. He has a Southern twang, bangs that cover his brow and a nascent beard covering his face. Superficially, he doesn't really convey a big-time quarterback.

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Even the coach who was elated to have him on his team last night had his doubts.
"When we recruited Chase, you saw just what a fabulous player he was, but it's tough to pull the trigger on a guy who's just about six foot," said Greg Schiano. "Kirk Ciarrocca and myself, we went around and around, but once we saw him in our camp and saw him throw and got to meet him, we knew he was a special guy."

Dodd's performance confirmed that. His 322 yards were the most by a quarterback making his first start during the Schiano era. His ability to discard two-plus bumpy quarters after a hot start, where drive after drive stalled out, showed resilience. For the South Carolina native, it made last night all the better.

"It does, it feels great," he said about whether the night was more special because of the questions about his height he had to face to get there. "I've always been thinking about that. Coming up and getting recruited, that was people's main excuse, coming here I felt I did a good job and proving to people that might have been skeptical."

The questions about his size only belied his performance and mentality. He did not play like a freshman last night and did not act like one.

"He seems like he's played in a lot of big games before," said junior offensive lineman Art Forst, praising his poise. "So you'd never know that he's a freshman."
The same was said last year about Tom Savage. Yet, whatever their similarities, they will now be compared on their differences. After Savage struggled to start the year, his injuries the last few weeks compounded the issue. He missed time in the loss to North Carolina with a rib injury and then hurt his hand last week in the loss to Tulane. He tried to play last night but Schiano wouldn't let him after watching him grimace throughout warmups.

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That gave Dodd the window he needed. It does not exactly make for a quarterback controversy yet with Savage's status uncertain but there is a case to be made for Dodd to become the starter.

Schiano would not juxtapose his quarterbacks, obviously wary of inviting any argument. Dodd can't help but to laugh about the idea of a controversy.
He and Savage share a close friendship and Dodd credited his teammate with getting him prepared during the week and helping on the sidelines during the game.
"We're really close," said Dodd. "We have a lot of the same personality. We're great friends so we're gonna keep that relationship."

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