Latest honors show Rutgers football has bright future…

The near future for Rutgers football appears to be bright. The latest indication of this came out last week when the Football Writers of America released their freshman All-American team.

Two Rutgers players were named to the team, one on each side of the ball. Rutgers joined Oregon as the only two schools to have two players on the All-American team.

QB Tom Savage beat out all other freshman quarterbacks in the country for the honor. Savage threw for 2,211 yards and 14 touchdowns while throwing 7 interceptions this season.

Rutgers finished the season 9-4. Of those 13 games, Savage started 11 of them and had a record of 8-3 in those 11 starts.

Savage joins some pretty big names that have previously been honored by the Football Writers of America. Texas QB Colt McCoy, Nebraska QB Sam Bradford, and former Miami (Ohio) and current Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger were named to this team when they were college freshman.

Savage was a true freshman last season.

On the defensive side of the ball, Scott Vallone was honored. The redshirt freshman defensive tackle developed into a major force for the Scarlet Knights last season. Vallone was consistantly in the opposing backfield throughout the season.

Rutgers also had a third player deserving of being named a freshman All-American. True freshman wide receiver Mohamed Sanu was arguable the teams most explosive player last year. Sanu was not named to this team however.

With Savage, Sanu, and Vallone the Scarlet Knights have a very good core to lean on for the next few years. These three players only begin to explain why the future is bright for Rutgers football. Many other freshman contributed this past season and got experience. The freshman group, both true and redshirts, are very talented.

It’s a great time to be a Rutgers football fan. Keep believing. The talent is here!