Savage, Rutgers fall to West Virginia

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Tom Savage sat in front of his locker after Rutgers' 24-21 loss to West Virginia yesterday and seemed almost crushed by the weight he had put on his shoulders.

Savage, a true freshman who starts at quarterback for Rutgers, was 9 for 27 for 153 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions.

Against the No. 24 team in the country, with blizzard-like conditions throughout most of the second half, those numbers aren't out of the ordinary for a true freshman quarterback.

But the word freshman hasn't been in Savage's vocabulary since he took over the starting job in the second game of the season. And it wouldn't be a good word to describe his style of play this season.

"My mentality is that freshman is just a word," the Cardinal O'Hara graduate said. "It's not my mind-set to be only a freshman. At the Division I level, you have to be able to make plays, which I didn't today."

Though Savage was critical of himself, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was impressed with aspects of his young quarterback's performance, particularly with Savage's poise after throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the third quarter.

"He's such a competitor," Schiano said. "Sometimes when you do something like that - when you throw an interception for a touchdown - you can get stuck in that moment, and I just wanted him to leave it behind him. And sure enough, he did."

From the day Savage committed to Rutgers last year, high expectations have followed him - and he has equally high expectations of himself.

At the time, there was no question the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Savage had the physical tools to succeed at the next level. The question was whether he had the intangibles.

"Savage was a combine stud," Rivals.com senior writer Bobby Deren said. "But one of the reasons he wasn't even more highly touted was because . . . some people didn't think he had shown enough in game situations. So there were some questions as to whether what he did in the combines would translate on the field."

He answered those questions emphatically.

"I walked across the field to Savage after the game and I said, 'Son, you took shots that I have never seen a kid take. You are going to be a great quarterback,' " West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said.

"I hate playing against that boy for the next three years."

After the win, West Virginia (9-3, 5-2 Big East) accepted a bid to play in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. Rutgers (8-4, 3-4) also will get a bowl bid.

Savage finished the regular season with 1,917 yards, 12 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. Compare that with the 2,385 yards, 13 TDs, and 12 interceptions of Southern Cal's true freshman quarterback, Matt Barkley, who entered this season widely regarded as the best quarterback in his class.

But of the nine true freshman quarterbacks starting at the Division I level this season, Savage has, in many ways, stood out.

Yesterday, when the quarterback was asked about playing in his first bowl game, his eyes lit up.

"I'm going to come out and I'm going to be ready," he said.