Rutgers names Dylan Lonergan starting QB for opener
Greg Schiano ended his quarterback competition four days out from kickoff, handing the job to Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan over returning backup AJ Surace.
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Rutgers has its quarterback. Greg Schiano named fourth-year transfer Dylan Lonergan the starter for the September 3 opener against UMass, ending a camp-long battle with third-year backup AJ Surace, a source told On3's Pete Nakos, with Yahoo Sports and Pete Thamel confirming Lonergan will make his Rutgers debut against UMass.
Lonergan's path here has not been a straight line — two years at Alabama that produced a combined eight pass attempts, then a season at Boston College that ended with him benched. He threw for 2,025 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions for the Eagles before losing his job there, a stretch he says taught him something about the position. "You've still got to earn it every single day. I think I learned that last year," Lonergan said, according to Yahoo Sports.
He described the moment he got the news in Piscataway simply: "I was really excited. I'm looking forward to get to work now." Surace, who spent the past two seasons backing up Athan Kaliakmanis before Kaliakmanis left for the NFL, came up just short in what by all accounts was a close competition — Thamel called it a battle Lonergan "beat out" rather than one Surace clearly lost.
Last season ended on a gut-punch to Penn State
Rutgers closed out last season with a four-point loss at home to Penn State, 40-36, a game that came down to the final possession and capped a finish that saw the Scarlet Knights lose three of their last four. They beat Purdue on the road and blew out Maryland at home in that stretch, but a 42-9 defeat at Ohio State sandwiched between those results was a reminder of the gap that still exists at the top of the Big Ten.
That 5-7 finish was enough for the program to decline a bowl invitation last season, which is part of why the quarterback change carries extra weight heading into 2026. Schiano's 18th season opens with a new arm under center and a proven record — 0-0, with nothing played yet — but the Penn State finish is still the most recent data point anybody has on how this team performs under pressure.
A soft opener before the schedule turns real fast
Lonergan's debut comes Thursday night vs. Massachusetts at SHI Stadium, and it is about as gentle a landing spot as a new starter could ask for. UMass finished last season 14-45 in a loss to Bowling Green and heads into this one with an 0-0 record and zero games played this year, giving Rutgers a low-pressure setting to break in a new quarterback before the schedule stiffens.
The line hadn't been priced as of this writing, so there's no spread or total to lean on yet — but that will change fast, and DraftKings will have Rutgers as a heavy favorite once it does. The bigger test comes 11 days later, when Rutgers travels to Boston College on September 11 to face the very program Lonergan just left, against an Eagles team that closed last season with a 34-12 win at Syracuse. That is the one to circle.