Dodd, Deering get valuable snaps in Tulane loss

Four members of the Rutgers football team lined up under center Saturday during the Rosetta Stone Languages Scarlet Knights' 17-14 Homecoming loss to Tulane and perhaps the most unexpected signal caller saw the majority of snaps.Freshman quarterback Chas Dodd entered the game for an injured Tom Savage more than halfway into the second quarter and still managed to throw 29 passes on the afternoon."I thought he did a good job," said head coach Greg Schiano. "Certainly there's balls I'm sure he'd like to have back, but he threw a lot of nice balls, as well. I thought he showed good composure. He stayed in the pocket, gave routes a chance to develop. As I've said all along, I have confidence in Chas and I think he went out there and he played with confidence."The Lyman, S.C., native saw mop-up duty in the Knights' season-opener against Norfolk State and even threw two passes in the loss to North Carolina. But nothing prepared Dodd for a third-and-11 in the second quarter, when Rutgers trailed the Green Wave, 10-7."It was great," Dodd said. "I had been out there for a few plays earlier in the season, but just to get out there and throw it around a little bit, it was a good opportunity."Dodd completed the throw on third and long to sophomore Mark Harrison for 16 yards and ended the first half with 45 yards on a 3-for-7 throwing clip.The Byrnes High School product regrouped and came out of the locker room in the second half, only to be stymied by another third and long situation on the Knights' opening drive.As was the case with an ailing Savage, Dodd competed for snaps with fellow freshman Jeremy Deering and wideout Mohamed Sanu in the Wild Knight formation."Whatever is working for the team at the time, that's what you have to do," Dodd said. "The Wildcat worked, so we just have to keep doing that."The team's ninth drive of the game for the Rutgers offense almost ended as inconspicuously as it began with yet another three-and-out. A pass interference penalty, Rosetta Stone Cheap however, kept the drive alive and eventually allowed Dodd to find Sanu for Dodd's first career touchdown pass in a Rutgers uniform.The completion to Sanu gave Dodd as many touchdowns through the air as Savage through the team's first four games."It was great. I wish it could have finished with a [win]," Dodd said of the throw to Sanu. "It's good getting that first touchdown out of the way, and hopefully there's plenty more to come."Sanu was the beneficiary of his second touchdown reception of the season, but another Knights wideout may have profited the most from Dodd's midgame entrance.Dodd completed four passes to Deering for 66 yards, but also targeted the Leto High School (Fla.) product on at least four other occasions. Combined with his appearances in the Wild Knight, Deering had noticeably his most productive game for the Knights in his young career."With both quarterbacks, we have connections," Deering said. "They just throw the ball to whoever's open. Rosetta Stone Spain Spanish V3 [Dodd] performed pretty good. He looked comfortable in there and didn't really think about making mistakes. He just played."As is the case in a 17-14 loss to a Conference USA opponent, Dodd looked at times every bit like a true freshman, completing less than half of his 29 pass attempts.Dodd opted to go 30 yards deep to Sanu on a crucial fourth-and-6 in the fourth quarter, resulting in a batted ball that just eluded an outstretched attempt from sophomore Keith Stroud.The Knights turned the ball over on downs, and Tulane forced Schiano to drain all three of the team's timeouts to regain possession for one more drive."[Sanu] wasn't [the first option]," Dodd said. "I was actually looking for the cross there, but I just overthrew him on that one."Like the loss to North Carolina, the Knights had the ball with two minutes remaining in the contest but were unable to come away with points on the team's 13th drive of the afternoon.Dodd threw downfield on another third-and-long but found the waiting arms of a Tulane defender for his first career interception to seal the game for the Green Wave.With Savage's status uncertain for Friday's Big East opener against Connecticut, Dodd may get another chance to build on his Rosetta Stone Languages growing list of firsts.Learning experiences are nothing new to Schiano, whose young team continues to struggle with consistency."I will get to the bottom of it. I'm going to find out," Schiano said. "I thought we learned our lesson in previous experiences, but we didn't. And I didn't, because again, I didn't get it done. So we'll go on and grow from it, but we'll be back."