AJ Surace will be Rutgers' starting quarterback in Friday night's game at Boston College

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – AJ Surace will be the starting quarterback for Rutgers football this weekend at Boston College. Dylan Lonergan, who started the season opener last week, will be out due to an injury, according to head coach Greg Schiano. For Surace, Friday is projected to be the first start of his collegiate career. Surace saw action in the home opener last weekend against UMass, coming in for the final series. During that lone drive, Surace went 6-of-9 for 77 yards with a touchdown. He looked sharp in his limited time in the game, providing a sense of poise to go along with some quality throws. A transfer portal addition, Lonergan struggled in the season-opening loss at UMass. He was removed in the fourth quarter due to an injury. Lonergan was 16-of-29 for 242 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, all of which came in the fourth quarter Lonergan and Surace battled for the starting job since spring practice. No starter was named at the conclusion of the spring and the competition ran through the summer. "It wasn't any one scrimmage or one practice, it was a cumulative body of work from when he arrived in January till now," head coach Greg Schiano said after naming Lonergan the opening day starter. "And as I said to you, they really made it hard on me, he and AJ [Surace], because they both performed very well in that whole stretch of time." Schiano also commented on how Surace handled the news that he had lost the job prior to the start of the season. "AJ was great. Not happy, he's an intense competitor and a really fine quarterback. But he went right back to work, that's who he is. He's gonna grind and he's gonna get better, and he's gonna be ready if and when his opportunity comes up." That opportunity awaits on Friday night in Chestnut Hill.