Rod Rutherford Named Semifinalist for Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award
11/13/2003
The senior has thrown for over 300 yards the last four contests.
University of Pittsburgh senior Rod Rutherford has been named a semifinalist for the Davey O?Brien National Quarterback Award, presented annually to the country?s top college quarterback.
Rutherford (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy) has thrown 27 touchdowns this year, tied for fourth in the nation. He additionally ranks fourth nationally in points responsible for (19.3 points/game), fifth in pass efficiency (165.8 rating) and 10th in total offense (309.6 avg.).
Through nine games, Rutherford is completing 62 percent of his passes for 2,661 yards. He has thrown only eight interceptions this year.
The O?Brien selection committee is comprised of national sportswriters and commentators. The three finalists will be announced on Dec. 1 and receive an invite to the Dec. 11 Home Depot ESPN College Football Awards Show in Orlando, Fla., where the winner will be announced.
The other semifinalists, in alphabetical order are: Josh Harris, Sr., Bowling Green; Eli Manning, Mississippi, Matt Leinart, Soph., USC; John Navarre, Jr., Michigan; Philip Rivers, Sr.,
North Carolina State; Ben Roethlisberger, Jr., Miami (Ohio); Jeff Smoker, Sr., Michigan State; B.J. Symons, Sr., Texas Tech; and Jason White, Sr., Oklahoma.
The 6-3, 225-pound Rutherford is coming off one of the best performances of his career. He accounted for three touchdowns in the Panthers? dramatic 31-28 victory over Virginia Tech and engineered the game-winning drive. Rutherford threw for 300 yards for the fourth straight game, completing 24-of-31 passes (77.4 percent) for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a score, adding 30 yards on the ground. On Pittsburgh's final drive, he completed three passes for 49 yards and had a 12-yard run to help set up the game-winning TD with 47 seconds remaining.
Rutherford has 5,706 passing yards for his career, becoming just the fourth Pittsburgh quarterback to reach the 5,000-yard milestone. The others are Alex Van Pelt (11,267 yards from 1989-92), Dan Marino (8,597 from 1979-82) and John Congemi (6,467 from 1982-86). Rutherford has seven career 300-yard passing games, which ranks first among active Big East quarterbacks and fifth (tied) all-time.
Pittsburgh is 7-2 overall and in first place in the Big East Conference with a 4-0 league mark. Ranked No. 16 by both major polls this week, the Panthers play at rival West Virginia (5-4, 3-1) Saturday, Nov. 15 in the 96th renewal of the ?Backyard Brawl.? The game will be nationally televised by ESPN2 and kick off at 7 p.m.
