In Rod they trust
QB's improvement could lead to big season for Pittsburgh
Posted: Sunday March 09, 2003 9:18 PM
PITTSBURGH -- On the first official day of spring break at the University of Pittsburgh, Rod Rutherford is not lying on a beach in Panama City or South Padre.
On a gray, 16-degree day in the Steel City, Rutherford sits in the quarterbacks room of the Panthers' lavish football complex watching what amounts to the furthest thing from ESPN Classic: last year's Rutgers-Pittsburgh game.
From start to finish and back again, a simple play-action hook route unfolds, a play he's seen countless times before and will many times again during his three-to-four weekly film sessions between now and next season.
"I would consider this forcing the ball into a crowd," says Rutherford, pausing as the ball lands at the feet of two defenders. "I had the opportunity, I could have taken a shot out to my right and gathered myself to try to make an accurate pass."
In the anonymity of the offseason, players across the country are working tirelessly to improve their games. In Rutherford's case, the extent of those efforts could mean the difference between an ordinary senior season and one for the ages.
Certainly, the Panthers' breakthrough 9-4 season and No. 19 final ranking wouldn't have happened without the talented tandem of Rutherford -- a tough, mobile second-team All-Big East quarterback who had more than 3,000 yards of total offense -- and Freshman All-America Larry Fitzgerald, a receiver who caught 69 balls for 1,005 yards.
But Rutherford also is prone to mistakes, so much so that fans were clamoring for freshman backup Tyler Palko early last season. How much higher could the Panthers have soared if, say, Rutherford completed more than 52.3 percent of his passes? Not been sacked 44 times? Not had 14 fumbles or 12 interceptions?
This is a team, after all, that ran for 275 yards on Virginia Tech's then-top-ranked rush defense, took No. 1 Miami to the very last play and finished with the No. 12-ranked defense in the country.
"I think Rod will put it all together this year," Panthers coach Walt Harris said. "I always believed Rod was going to be a good quarterback. He threw for 30-something percent [32.2] as a sophomore [backup]. He had a ton of doubters out there, but I always thought he had a chance if we could fashion some kind of offense that fit his talents."
That offense emerged last season almost by accident.
Fitzgerald, a true freshman from Minneapolis, stepped in immediately and picked up where predecessor Antonio Bryant left off, catching 10 balls for 103 yards against Texas A&M in just his second college game. Alabama transfer Brandon Miree emerged from a backfield logjam to break 100 yards in four of his last five games.
And the Panthers began utilizing more designed runs for the seemingly fearless Rutherford, who gained 105 yards against Miami before subtracting six sacks. On one play, he ran near the sideline as hard-hitting 'Canes linebacker Jonathan Vilma closed in for the tackle. Instead of dashing out of bounds, Rutherford ran right over him.
"He's probably one of the toughest guys I've ever met," Fitzgerald said. "He's just a tough dude in every sense of the word. When you know your QB's a fighter, that kind of sets the tempo for our offense."
With the supremely talented Fitzgerald able to go up and grab nearly any ball ("I've had the chance to coach seven first-round draft choices at wide receiver, and Larry will be No. 8," said Harris), Rutherford's confidence grew as the season went on. Pittsburgh, which had gone 7-5 the previous two seasons, began showing signs of taking things to the next level, starting 5-0 in the Big East before seven-point losses to Miami and West Virginia.
This season, the much-improved Big East figures to have the most competitive race in its 11-year history, with Miami, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Boston College all capable of taking home the title. The 'Canes and Hokies still will be prohibitive favorites, but the Panthers are closing fast.
Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads' system has gotten to the point where you can count on the defense to be a strength, even with the graduation of All-America linebacker Gerald Hayes.
It will be up to the offense -- specifically Rutherford -- to rise to the occasion. Fitzgerald will be joined by another promising receiver, juco transfer Princell Brockenbrough, and Miree is back to provide balance.
"When I came in last year and saw how good our defense was, that's when I really knew we had a good chance to go pretty far," Fitzgerald said. "Our defense was phenomenal last year, and our offense is starting to pick up. When we get both teams on the same page, we're gonna be really tough to beat."
Changes abound in Knoxville
Tennessee wasted no time naming team captains for 2003, announcing six of them on the first day of spring practice last week, led by quarterback Casey Clausen and offensive lineman Michael Munoz.
The timing was no accident. Poor leadership (read: Kelley Washington) contributed mightily to the Vols' disappointing 8-5 season last year, one that ended in a humiliating 30-3 Peach Bowl loss to Maryland.
On the field, the main focus this spring is finding some playmakers to inject life into an offense that finished 85th in the country last season. To that end, speedy running back Derrick Tinsley and defensive back Mark Jones have moved to receiver.
''We need our playmakers on offense to be more dynamic,'' said Fulmer.
Tennessee should be solid defensively, led by talented linebackers Kevin Burnett, Kevin Simon, Robert Peace and vaunted incoming freshman Daniel Brooks. The question is, with four starting offensive linemen and running backs Cedric Houston and Jabari Davis returning, can the offense return to its electrifying 2001 form?
The answer might not come until fall, when rising sophomore receiver Jonathan Wade will be done with track and when Clausen will gain the services of three prep All-America receivers, Jayson Swain, Robert Meachem and Bret Smith.
Big man on Auburn's campus
The star attraction at Auburn spring practices is unquestionably juco transfer and freak of nature Brandon Jacobs, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound tailback.
"He may be the biggest running back in the history of football," said coach Tommy Tuberville. "The thing he's going to show this spring is that he is a guy that can move the pile even when things get tough inside. We played a lot of good defensive lines last year, and when we got yards, we had to run to the outside."
Jacobs, who ran for 1,899 yards and 20 touchdowns last year at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, signed with the Tigers in December and went through bowl practices with the team. But this is the first time he's been on the field with Auburn's full complement of running backs -- and boy, is it full.
Carnell Williams, the former Freshman All-America, was averaging 106.4 yards per game when he broke his leg in the seventh game last season. He's back. So is his replacement, junior Ronnie Brown, who finished the year with 1,008 yards.
And same goes for sophomore Tre Smith, the star of last year's Iron Bowl when he filled in with 126 yards in a 17-7 victory over Alabama.
"On this level, the better the competition is, the better it makes you," Williams told the Mobile Register. "It's going to be real fun to watch all of those guys run next year. Things are going to be kind of shaky at first trying to get everybody the ball, but I feel like things are going to be OK."
Worth noting
It's junior Derrick Crudup, not vaunted Florida transfer Brock Berlin, who begins spring as the No. 1 quarterback on Miami's depth chart. ... Darnell Bing, one of USC's four touted signees from Long Beach Poly High in 2002 who was academically ineligible last fall, has been working at both safety and tailback this spring. ... Texas suddenly has more tight ends than it knows what to do with. In addition to productive returning starter Brock Edwards and 2001 star Bo Scaife, who sat out last season with a knee injury, upstart sophomore David Thomas has picked up where he left off in the Cotton Bowl, catching 70- and 39-yard touchdowns in UT's first two spring scrimmages. ... Much-maligned Arizona coach John Mackovic has lost five assistants since signing day and suspended star running back Clarence Farmer indefinitely for undisclosed reasons. The Wildcats did make one impressive addition last week, though, landing former Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz. ... Georgia's efforts to rebuild its entire starting offensive line have been hampered thus far by injuries. With tackles Dennis Roland and guard Josh Brock out of practice last week, the Bulldogs were down to six scholarship linemen.
Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com.
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