Sep 10, 2002 4 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Rod Rutherford accomplished in defeat what he couldn’t do in victory – namely, prevent an early season quarterback debate at Pittsburgh. After an uneven opener against Ohio and a dreadful first half Saturday in a 14-12 loss to No. 20 Texas A&M, Rutherford suddenly began playing just the way coach Walt Harris predicted he would.

Shaking off constant pressure from one of the nation’s top defenses – he was sacked seven times – Rutherford turned a bad game into a good one by going 12-of-13 on a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives.

One of his few failures, an incompletion on a 2-point conversion pass intended for freshman Larry Fitzgerald, meant one of Pitt’s best comebacks in years wouldn’t be a successful one. Pitt was denied a possible upset by failing to convert after either of its touchdowns.

Still, Rutherford’s play seemed to gain him the confidence and acceptance from his teammates he couldn’t generate during an unimpressive 27-14 victory over Ohio.

“He showed a lot of poise, he took charge in the huddle,” Pitt center Chad Reed said “Always before when he came in, it was somebody else’s huddle – John Turman’s huddle or David Priestley’s huddle. This year, he’s in charge, and he’s our man.”

Rutherford’s statistics – 20-of-32 for 169 yards and an interception – weren’t spectacular. Unless, of course, they were compared to his first-half numbers of 4-of-10 for 26 yards, or his opening week effort in which he threw three interceptions.

“I don’t know what happened in the first half, but we came out playing in the second half the way we’re supposed to play,” Rutherford said. “We got comfortable and made some plays. We took care of what was going on up front and just played football.”

With A&M up 14-0, some Pitt students began chanting for freshman backup Tyler Palko to play. Palko came in for one series, but didn’t return after being sacked on third down.

“I smile when the fans boo me, I smile when the fans cheer me,” said Rutherford, a junior who played sparingly – mostly as a changeup quarterback to run the option – in his first two college seasons.

Right now, it appears Harris has no other option but to play Rutherford.

Palko, Pennsylvania’s high school player of the year last season, has a strong arm and has quickly grasped the offense. But Harris suggested it is too much to ask any quarterback to adjust from high school football to top-level Division I-A in only one year.

The Pitt offense, so productive during the six-game winning streak that ended last season, isn’t just adjusting to a new quarterback, either. With former All-American Antonio Bryant and the productive R.J. English gone, Pitt is breaking in a new cast of receivers, too.

Fitzgerald, a freshman who looks to be the best of the group, had a potential breakthrough game Saturday by making 10 catches for 103 yards. However, he and Rutherford couldn’t connect on a potential tying 2-point conversion play with just over 2 minutes left following Rutherford’s 2-yard TD pass to tight end Kris Wilson.

It was the second of Pitt’s two costly conversion attempt failures. J.B. Gibboney twice kicked the extra point following Rutherford’s 1-yard QB sneak touchdown, but Pitt was penalized both times for illegal shifts. Pushed back to the 30 on a third attempt, Gibboney was wide right after his snapper, Jonathan Sitter, was late getting onto the field.

“We can’t dwell too much on the missed kick,” Reed said. “It’s a team around here. We don’t play just to hang with teams, we play to win.”

Pitt plays its first road game of the season Saturday at Alabama-Birmingham. The Panthers didn’t have much trouble handling the Blazers 24-6 late last season, a game postponed until December by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“The bad thing is, we lost to Texas A&M,” running back Brandon Miree said. “The good thing is this is the second game of the season and we can regroup.”