In the first start of his collegiate career, quarterback Chas Dodd responded with 322 yards passing and two touchdowns in Rutgers’ 27-24 win over UConn. In recognition of that performance, he was named the Big East’s offensive player of the week.
More importantly, his head coach recognized the performance, which will result in a second consecutive start for the true freshman.
Speaking during his weekly press conference, Greg Schiano confirmed that Dodd will start this weekend against Army ahead of sophomore Tom Savage, who did not start the Huskies game due to injury. The combination of Dodd’s sterling play and Savage’s injured hand led the coach to announce his starter five days ahead of the non-conference tilt.
“Chas is going to start,” Schiano said after practice Monday. “Tom is not well and Chas played very well, so Chas will start the game. I hope that Tom is healthy to practice some this week and then it’s a week-to-week thing.”
As for the future of the position once Savage becomes healthy, Schiano said he’ll address it “when the time comes because circumstances change.”
For his part, Dodd’s worried about what’s going to happen this weekend and getting more comfortable in the offense, not what happens when Savage returns.
“I am excited about it,” Dodd said in quotes released by the school. “Just practicing this week preparing and focusing on what we have to do to get ready for the next one. ...
“I am comfortable with everything we have put in. Every week, we might have something new that we might put in, so it just a matter of learning it as we put it in. I feel very comfortable with everything that we have and it is very similar to the offense that I ran in high school so I feel good with it.”