Rutgers Football: Savon Huggins Shines in His First Scrimmage of the Season

Former St. Peter’s Prep star Savon Huggins is one of the most highly regarded prospects the Scarlet Knights have landed in decades.

Whispers of him being the next Ray Rice and gaining 1,000 yards on the ground as a true freshman have already been overheard this season.

On Saturday, August 13, Huggins did his best to showcase that the hype is real when he competed against his teammates in his first intra-squad scrimmage of the summer.

Huggins, the top recruit in New Jersey in this year’s class, rushed for a whopping 168 yards on 26 carries.

That includes a 52-yard score, and a hefty 6.5 yards per carry. 

A little surprisingly, Huggins is the second-string back on the team behind former wide receiver Jeremy Deering, but many see the 18-year-old overtaking the lead spot before Week 1 of the season. 

Rutgers is in desperate need of revitalizing their rush attack this year, after finishing 110 out of 120 schools in rush yards per game in 2010.

One player who was excited about Huggins’ performance was center David Osei.  Osei told NJ.com that he is confident that play action will be a large part or Rutgers’ offensive attack this fall.

“That’s just Offense 101,” Osei said of the play-action game. “Once you get the run game going and they (the defense) start playing up, the passing game is going to open up.”

Osei is stepping in for junior college transfer Dallas Hendrickson, who unfortunately suffered a season ending knee-injury this spring. 

New offensive coordinator has promised to bring a more pro style offense to the team, and if the scrimmage was any indication, he’s living up to his word.

Between his two young quarterbacks, Chas Dodd and Gary Nova, RU scored five touchdowns through the air.

Tim Wright, who missed 2010 due to knee surgery, made a big impact in the scrimmage as well.

Wright hauled in four catches for 45 yards and two touchdowns, all of which came from quarterback Chas Dodd.

Despite a solid day in his own right, throwing for 250 yards and three touchdowns despite struggling with his accuracy (12 for 27), Dodd also gave his endorsement to Huggins.

"I was actually really impressed with him," Dodd said. "He had a great day. He broke some tackles. It's good to see a young guy come in and have some plays like that."

The Scarlet Knights take on UNC Central at home on September 1 to kick off the 2011 season.