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Except someone walloped Kordell Young. And then someone else did. It was a full-on tackle, Young was on the ground and somewhere, underneath his face mask and north of his bulky knee brace, the junior tailback grinned.

"No, I wasn't complaining," Young said. "I popped right back up."

It's been a while since Young has even thought about popping back up, much less getting the chance to do so. Sidelined since the end of last season -- or two quarterbacks ago -- Young made his return to full-contact, full-practice Tuesday afternoon. He looked explosive, he felt fast, and afterward, Greg Schiano said that he expects Young to be carrying the football Saturday afternoon, against Florida International.

"There's some things he can be able to do for us," Schiano said.

How much, of course, is still being decided.

"Let's see how he does," Schiano hedged.

In 2007, with Schiano talking about grand plans for Young and the way he'd complement Ray Rice, an inadvertent smash from Mason Robinson shredded his knee. Young had surgery, missed the season and then tentatively returned to camp in 2008, sporting a knee brace. He carried the ball a career-high 26 times in Rutgers' season-opening loss to Fresno State and then was sidelined by soreness for four games. He worked his way back, hitting at least 20 carries in games six through nine, managed just 11 in the final three games and then was hurt again early in the Papajohns.com Bowl. That meant another repair in January, another missed spring and now, a hyper-cautious coach.

"I'm concerned for him," said Schiano, who's always felt a certain affinity for Young. When Young was first hurt, he repeatedly said it was the then-sophomore who consoled him He's since held up Young's approach to rehab as his program's model.

"I just hope that he can, in the role that we ask of him, be able to stay healthy and that we're using the right judgment in how much he can be able to do," Schiano said.

Young hasn't once -- and wouldn't Tuesday -- question the way he was used in last year's opener. He insistently pronounced himself ready, he said he feels "great" when out on the field and he promised, "I feel like I can pretty much handle whatever coach gives me."

At the same time, though, Young said he appreciates Schiano's approach, that "with the past and what happened last year, being out for a couple games after the first one, I respect that coach doesn't want to just rush me into the mix and risk injury."

And it is a mix he comes into. Young led the team in rushing last year, despite only playing eight games, and neither Joe Martinek nor Jourdan Brooks has impressed Schiano enough to secure the starting job and majority of carries. Martinek had a team-high 15 carries for 54 yards in the Scarlet Knights' first game, Brooks had 17 carries for 124 yards in the second, and Rutgers' rushing offense (147.50 yards per game) ranks second to last in the Big East - and 64th nationally.

"I don't know if we've really kicked it into gear with anyone running the ball," Schiano said.

Still, Young said his standing is on the bottom rung of the position ladder, that he's working his way back into it.

And when he does, there just might not be all that much tackling to the ground.

ROTATING O-LINE: Schiano played 11 offensive linemen against Howard, and though part of that was because of the lopsided score, Schiano said it was more because Rutgers was still looking for its top five linemen. The Scarlet Knights did return all five starters from a year ago, but Schiano couldn't promise an end to the shuffling, saying, "It depends on how we perform."

NEW TIGHT END, NEW STARTING TIGHT END: D.C. Jefferson has been a tight end for all of three weeks, but he's officially upended senior and second-year starter Shamar Graves. Schiano said Monday that Graves "is really going to have to have a great week to get back on top" and then Tuesday went a step further, saying, "You never make a position change to play someone who gives you a worse change to win."

MEDICAL CHART: Schiano said backup left guard Caleb Ruch (leg) is a "longshot" to play Saturday. Safety Patrick Kivlehan (leg), meanwhile is "going to be a little bit. It's not going to be surgery, it needs to heal."