Will AJ Surace be ready for first Rutgers start? A look at the new quarterback

PISCATAWAY – Rutgers football will head to Boston College looking to get its season back on track following a humbling loss to UMass, and it’ll be handing the keys of its offense to a quarterback who will be making his first career start.

AJ Surace, here’s your opportunity.

Surace will be the Scarlet Knights’ QB1 after Dylan Lonergan, who beat out Surace in a competition throughout the spring and summer, suffered an injury against the Minutemen in the season opener.

Surace relieved him in the fourth quarter, completing 6 of 9 passes for 77 yards with one touchdown.

Prior to that, Surace had played in just three games.

So needless to say, Surace is inexperienced.

But he also could be uniquely qualified for the opportunity to start against the Eagles on Friday, Sept. 11 at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Coach Greg Schiano made it clear that Surace and Lonergan were locked in a tight battle right until the end. They made the decision as difficult as possible for he and offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca.

When Schiano and Ciarrocca informed Surace of the decision, Surace took it like anyone would expect.

“Not happy,” Schiano said of Surace's reaction. “He’s an intense competitor and a really fine quarterback. But he went right back to work. That’s who he is. He’s going to grind and he’s going to get better. He’s going to be ready if and when his opportunity comes up.”

That opportunity has come up.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Surace has been around football his entire life. The son of longtime Princeton head coach Bob Surace – who’s been at the helm of the Tigers since 2010 – Surace holds a high football IQ.

“AJ is just a football maniac,” Schiano said back in June. “He loves football. He grew up around it. I know several of the coaches who have coached at Princeton for a long time. And they laugh because they remember him running around the field house, chasing his dad around. The kid grew up doing that stuff.”

Surace eventually grew into a high-level quarterback at Notre Dame High School, good enough to be recruited by Rutgers and become a Big Ten quarterback.

“I was growing up around a college since I was young and learning from their players, learning from their leaders,” Surace said back in the spring. “You learn how to prepare, and make sacrifices. So from a young age I’ve learned so much about what it takes to be a college football player.”

He arrived with many believing he was the program’s quarterback of the future. Surace waited his turn behind Athan Kaliakmanis, only to have Lonergan come in and beat him out for the job.

But in an era of constant movement in college football, Surace never left the Scarlet Knights for a different opportunity elsewhere.

He said in the spring that leaving “wasn’t really much of a thought.”

That means throughout the past few years he’s developed a strong relationship with his receivers, including star NFL-bound wideout KJ Duff.

Having the chance to see all of the first-team reps in practice this week with Lonergan sidelined can only help.

Still, this will be a new situation for Surace – his first career start in a game the Scarlet Knights need to win.

Safe to assume he’ll receive from words of wisdom from his father about how to handle it.

Surace has been preparing for a chance like this for years.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Will AJ Surace be ready for first Rutgers start? A look at the new quarterback