Quarterback Derby Headlines Rutgers Spring as Surace and Lonergan Vie for Starting Role

Piscataway, N.J.—When Rutgers opens spring practice this week, the loudest buzz will not surround the wholesale remake of a defense that surrendered historic yardage in 2025. Instead, every camera lens and notebook will tilt toward the offensive backfield, where a two-man race has emerged to replace graduated starter Athan Kaliakmanis under center.

Rising junior AJ Surace, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound Pennington native who has waited three years for his moment, takes the first snap of what offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca calls “an open evaluation.” Surace’s lone résumé consists of four completions in nine attempts, 58 yards and two touchdowns, all compiled in late-game duty. Across from him stands Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan, a 6-2, 210-pound senior from Snellville, Georgia, who logged more than 2,000 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions for the Eagles last fall.

Ciarrocca, entering his fourth season directing Rutgers’ multiple-pro-set attack, said Friday that Surace’s grasp of the system could offset Lonergan’s game-experience edge.

“AJ’s had a really good winter,” the coordinator noted after the team’s first workout. “He’s a really hard worker, very conscientious young man… but he needs repetitions out there to learn and grow from. Dylan and Sean Ashenfelder are in the same boat. We’ll give them all equal work and see who earns the right to lead.”

The playbook, renowned throughout the Big Ten for its layered protections and sight-adjustment tree, historically requires multiple seasons to master. Kaliakmanis exemplified that trajectory, jumping from 1,600 yards as a first-year starter to more than 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in year two. Surace has spent every practice since 2023 immersed in those nuances, while Lonergan, who also spent two seasons at Alabama before starting at BC, must compress the learning curve this spring.

Whoever prevails will pilot an offense that averaged 29 points per game in 2025, the program’s highest mark since joining the conference. Receivers coach Dave Brock returns future NFL prospect KJ Duff plus a deep stable of wideouts, and a veteran offensive line is expected to pave the way for a power-running game led by returning 1,000-yard rusher Jabara Glasper.

Surace, wearing the No. 10 jersey he hopes will become familiar to fans this fall, insists the competition has not altered his daily approach.

“There’s always competition within the room,” he said. “Between everybody, we’re constantly pushing each other. My job is to get a little bit better every day and be the best I can be.”

Lonergan, equally diplomatic, welcomed the battle.

“I think nowadays nobody really knows what to expect with the portal,” he said. “The decision to come here was a no-brainer. Competition is competition. We’re all working together to be the best as a team.”

Head coach Greg Schiano will not stage a public spring game this year after last year’s exhibition cost receiver Famah Toure a season-ending knee injury. Instead, evaluations will unfold behind closed doors, with Ciarrocca and Schiano poring over practice tape before announcing a pecking order by the end of preseason camp.

“It’s going to be based on performance,” Ciarrocca said. “Doing this as long as I have, it becomes apparent at some point. When that time comes, we’ll sit down and talk, and Coach will make the decision. I’m in no hurry.”

For a program desperate to return to bowl relevance after a 4-8 finish, the right answer at quarterback could flip close defeats into the narrow victories needed to navigate a daunting Big Ten slate. Spring drills conclude in late March, but the echoes from every throw, read and audible will resonate until the season opener Sept. 1.