The beginning of a new era for Panthers

Saturday’s annual Blue-Gold football scrimmage — or is it offense vs. defense, I don’t… Saturday’s annual Blue-Gold football scrimmage — or is it offense vs. defense, I don’t know — was the official beginning of the Tyler Palko/Luke Getsy era at Pitt.

No, that’s not a mistake. I really did mean to list both of them there because, come the start of fall camp in August, both will be Pitt’s starting quarterback.

How can a team have two starting quarterbacks? Your guess is as good as mine.

Although he claims he hasn’t determined who the starter will be once the season begins, you can’t help but feel that Walt Harris will use both the same way he used John Turman and David Priestley during the time they were signal callers at Pitt.

Remember the drill? Turman would play a few series and then, just when it looked like he was getting into a rhythm, Harris would send Priestley out with the offense. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes it was just plain confusing.

In Harris’ defense, it would be impossible to decide on a starter, mainly because of the injuries to the offensive line — a unit that was never mistaken for the Washington Redskins’ Hogs last season. The best way to describe Pitt’s offensive line in 2003 is porous, and when a position that bad loses three starters, it goes from being a leak to a flood.

But even in that situation — having to run for your life on every single play — there is the possibility that one would perform better in that situation than the other. At times, Getsy seems to have a better feel for the pass rush, but having a sixth sense for a 300-pound defender doesn’t necessarily put points on the board.

With neither quarterback separating himself from the other, Harris has to go into the fall with both taking an equal amount of snaps. That’s the only way he can attempt to figure out which one is ready to fill Rod Rutherford’s shoes.

But he won’t. Harris will want you to believe that he’s looking for a starter, but chances are that he’s already decided to use both.

With the numbers they’ve put up in the minuscule playing time they’ve received, neither Palko nor Getsy has the stats to put one ahead of the other.

Palko has played in six games — all during the 2002 season — and completed two passes for 13 yards and one rushing touchdown. Getsy has also played in six games — all during the 2003 season, including a start in the season opener — and completed three passes for 32 yards and has rushed for another 34 yards.

Neither one put up great numbers in the spring game — Palko and Getsy combined to go 13-of-23 for 85 yards and an interception. In fact, the best quarterback on Saturday was Joe Flacco, who threw for a game-high 91 yards and the game’s only passing touchdown.

The quarterback situation now is extremely similar to the one in 2000. Turman could throw the deep ball and make big plays, but Priestley got things done under all different circumstances.

Harris’ two current quarterbacks are the same way — Palko has a decent arm, while Getsy seems to have a better feel for game situations.

Both are listed in the spring prospectus as standing 6 feet 2 inches and weighing 220 pounds. What it could come down to is the fact that Getsy is right-handed while Palko is a southpaw.

That could work for Harris. If the Panthers hold a small lead in the fourth quarter, they could go with the hard-throwing lefty to close out the game or bring in the crafty right-hander to finish the job.

Or Harris could make a decision and choose one over the other now rather than eight weeks into the season.

Joe Marchilena is the sports editor for The Pitt News and he is done with Pitt football.