The player billed as Rutgers’ quarterback of the future at this time last year will be the quarterback of the present for the Scarlet Knights this Saturday.

Art Sitkowski will make his first start for Rutgers since getting benched after the penultimate game of the 2018 season, receiving the nod because fifth-year senior McLane Carter has yet to be cleared because of a concussion suffered at Iowa on Sept. 7.

"(Carter) is still day-to-day (and) hasn’t practiced so he won’t be cleared to play,'' Rutgers coach Chris Ash said following practice on Thursday.

Rutgers will meet Boston College for a 12 p.m. kickoff Saturday at SHI Stadium in Piscataway. Redshirt freshman Johnny Langan, who transferred in from Boston College earlier this year, will be Sitkowski’s backup.

Sitkowski’s rookie-year struggles were well documented, but Ash expressed confidence that the sophomore from Old Bridge is better prepared to pilot the Scarlet Knights this season.

"Very high. Very high,'' Ash said, when pressed on his confidence level in Sitkowski. "I’ve got nothing but 100 percent confidence and belief in Art. We talked all through training camp about the battle between the two. There wasn’t a whole lot of difference. The biggest one was just at the moment McLane was a fifth-year player and had a little bit more experience. But Art had a tremendous training camp, and the players, the coaches, everybody has nothing but 100 percent faith and trust in him to go out and lead the team. And we’re excited for him to do that.''

Ash said Carter was diagnosed with a concussion as a result of a first-half hit in the Scarlet Knights’ 30-0 loss at Iowa. The injury capped a poor outing for the Texas-based southpaw, who threw for 28 yards and an interception on 6-for-16 passing.

He said last week Rutgers’ medical staff is in charge of clearing all players, including Carter, and his quarterback would likely need to be symptom-free for five days before being cleared to play against Boston College this Saturday.

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Since earning the starting nod by winning a training-camp competition against Sitkowski and Langan, Carter has completed 57.4 percent of his passes for 368 yards while throwing two touchdowns and four interceptions.

After Sitkowski lost in the starting QB competition, Ash spoke about the possibility of a redshirt year. In order to be eligible for a redshirt, Sitkowski could play in as many as four games this season. Considering Sitkowski already saw mop-up duty at Iowa and the fact he’s in line to play for the second time in three games this season, Ash was asked if the plan has changed for Sitkowski.

"Nothing’s changed,'' Ash said. "This is one-game-at-a-time. We’ve got a game this Saturday. We’re just looking for our football team to go out and play the best it can play, and we’ll look at everything after that.''

Sitkowski, who threw for 1,158 yards while completing 49.1 percent of his passes in 11 games last season, threw for 19 yards on 4-for-11 passing against Iowa. The interception was the 19th of his career in 12 games and that’s a concern considering Boston College leads the ACC with six interceptions this season and is plus-7 in turnover margin, tied for the best in the nation. The Eagles have 42 interceptions since 2017, the second-most in the nation in that span.

Boston College ranks 10th in the 14-team Atlantic Coast Conference in pass defense, yielding 243.7 yards per game through its 2-1 start. The Eagles lead all ACC defenses with six interceptions.

"Art’s just a lot more comfortable, a lot more confident,'' Ash said. "He got a chance to play in the second half at Iowa. The whole thing offensively wasn’t great in the second half, and it wasn’t his deal. He’s had a really good bye week. He’s had a good week of preparation this week. And he’s ready to go.''

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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.