Scarlet Knights counting on sophomore QB

In the three years since a magical 2006 campaign brought Rutgers a whisker away from the school’s first-ever Big East Football Championship, the Scarlet Knights have failed to manage a finish higher than fourth in the eight-team conference.

This year, Rutgers returns a trio of young, talented skill position players from a team that went 9-4 and won the St. Petersburg Bowl against UCF.

But a largely unproven offensive line and an inexperienced secondary could once again relegate the Scarlet Knights to the middle of the pack.

If nothing else, coach Greg Schiano knows he can count on his quarterback, where returning starter Tom Savage looks to build on a rookie season in which he threw for more than 2,200 yards and earned Freshman All-America honors.

Savage’s success will be contingent on the play of wide receiver and running back Mohamed Sanu, a versatile sophomore who finished 10th in the Big East in receiving yards per game last season.

Spearheading the running game is junior Joe Martinek, a power back who ran for just shy of 1,000 yards last season. Martinek will likely be complemented by De’Antwan Williams, a sophomore with big-play capabilities.

But whether or not Williams and Martinek will have anywhere to run depends on the performance of an offensive line made up almost entirely of question marks. The Scarlet Knights will have to find replacements for three of last year’s five starters, including offensive tackle Anthony Davis, the 11th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

“There are some new guys in the mix, but I think with the experience of the guys returning we will be just fine,” senior center Howard Barbieri said.

Defense will once again be a strength for the Scarlet Knights, who ranked 16th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring defense. Three starters return to a defensive line that helped Rutgers lead the country in tackles for a loss last season, and the linebacking corps should remain an asset despite the loss of seventh-round draft pick Ryan D’Imperio.

The secondary is less of a sure thing. There, the Scarlet Knights will sorely miss the presence of cornerback Devin McCourty, an All-Big East selection and first-round draftee. For the defense to remain one of the nation’s elite, the secondary will need strong performances from senior safety Joe Lefeged and highly touted rookie cornerback Logan Ryan, who has been impressive in practice thus far.

While his team is inexperienced, Schiano hopes that the abilities of players like Ryan and Savage will outweigh their youth.

“We’re young, but that’s not an excuse — it’s more of just a statement of how many years we’ve had guys playing college football,” Schiano said in a story posted on Rutgers’ athletic website. “At the end of the day in college football, you line up and you play.”