PISCATAWAY – Ray Rice runs, and he runs some more.

Ray Rice catches the ball, he picks up a blitz and then he rushes again. Jack Corcoran thinks maybe he could ease Ray Rice's load. And then Corcoran realizes, as he has dozens of times before, Rutgers' Heisman-aspiring tailback doesn't need his load lessened.

"Ray's a machine," Corcoran said, his voice full of awe and his words not the least bit bitter. Corcoran, after all, is a 6-foot-1, 230-pound bruiser who rushed for 3,683 yards and an eye-popping 70 touchdowns as a high schooler in Atlantic City – and who doesn't have a single carry this year.

"Once you get to this level, you have to adjust to certain things," he said good-naturedly. Corcoran's a fullback at Rutgers just as he was in high school, though here that means blocking for Ray Rice. And blocking for Ray Rice some more.

"You have to be realistic," he said. "This is how you get on the field."

Well, through two games, that attitude has ensured not much time off the field for Corcoran. The 13th-ranked Scarlet Knights (2-0) have Norfolk State (1-0) in Saturday for Homecoming and while the lower-level Championship Subdivision opponent ultimately may allow Corcoran his first carry, the sophomore genuinely is becoming enamored of his regular role. Why else would he answer to "Jawbreaker"?

"I plead the Fifth," he said, laughing as he ducked the question.

On the field at least, Corcoran's shown to be fearless. He was a State champion wrestler used to man-to-man grappling and when asked for a review, Ray Rice – who has 359 yards and five touchdowns -- said, "Obviously the holes are there."

"Jack as a blocker, Jack is every bit as good as anybody," Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said, seconding his lead back's praise. "Jack will go up there and lean up on you, splinter you. I'd say that it's the strongest part of his game."

Of course, it's not the part of Corcoran's game that will net him highlight moments. And that's an omission especially noted because the player who preceded him, Brian Leonard, was a highlight heavyweight.

"We're not doing all the same things we used to do with Brian so that's why it's really not an apples and apples thing," Schiano said of the inevitable comparisons between the current Ram and Corcoran. "It's not really comparing the same position."

And more so than Corcoran personally dictating that, it's the other weapons the Scarlet Knights have. In Mike Teel, Schiano has the most capable and talented quarterback he's ever had. Receiver Tiquan Underwood set the school's single-game receiving record in the season's first game, 6-4 Kenny Britt already is being talked about as perhaps the best receiver the school's seen and third wideout Timmy Brown is just getting started.

Ray Rice, meanwhile, is a back who gets better as games go on, and Schiano has said he has no plans to let up on his carries (62 in two games). Teel's also been throwing to Ray Rice more (his five catches already exceed last year's total) and Ray Rice and Schiano say backup tailback Kordell Young is too explosive not to get the ball, too.

"If I was Teel, I'd be hitting those guys, too. They're making plays all over the place," Corcoran said. "Why hit a short pass when you can go long?"

Short or long, Corcoran still will have been part of the play. And in the meantime, if Ray Rice ever tires, then Corcoran will be ready for a different kind of play.

"I know he will be," Ray Rice said. "He'll get some carries, just wait."