For Rutgers football, Saturday’s opener at Boston College is already a difficult challenge. Against a Power Five opponent, and one that has been bowl eligible the past two years under head coach Jeff Hafley, it is far from a gimme game to start the season.
Factor in that Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano sees Boston College quarterback Phil Jorkovec as a future NFL quarterback, and a young Scarlet Knights defense is certainly in for a huge test.
Last season, in a campaign cut short due to injury, Jurkovec threw 914 passing yards, completing 54 percent of his passes. He had seven touchdowns and four interceptions. He has a big arm and at 6-foot-5, 214 pounds has prototypical size.
“Very talented quarterback. He’s an NFL quarterback, which, when you say that, that means a lot to me,” Schiano told reporters on Monday.
“He’s got a big arm. He’s very mobile, very athletic. So when things break down, he extends plays. He doesn’t just run to run. He extends. He extends — has a really good feel for the pocket. A very good presence in the pocket. I know John (Boston College offensive coordinator John McNulty), having worked with John. John is really a good quarterback coach and a guy who makes a quarterback very aware of rush patterns, escapability, how to extend plays. So I’m sure that there will be improvement there as well.”
McNulty, referenced in the above comments about Jurkovec, spent five years under Schiano as part of the Rutgers offensive staff.
[lawrence-related id=18314]
In 2020, Jurkovec threw for 2,558 yards with 17 touchdowns and five interceptions. Schiano was asked about the quarterback his program will face on Saturday afternoon.
[lawrence-related id=18306]
For Rutgers, the hope is that Boston College’s offensive line, which comes into the season opener untested and a bit green, will allow for the Scarlet Knights to dial up the pressure a bit.
Rutgers also returns a secondary that is arguably the strength of the team.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01fc3gzhz7qrm49z6q player_id=none image=https://rutgerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]