After a summer filled with adversity and controversy, Pitt head football coach Walt Harris is… After a summer filled with adversity and controversy, Pitt head football coach Walt Harris is ready to start the 2003 football season.

“It’s exciting to finally be in game week,” Harris said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

However, before the season opener Saturday night against Kent State, Harris has once again been forced to deal with controversy on his football team. This time, the storm centers around starting quarterback Rod Rutherford’s encounter with a 19-year-old woman at Station Square early Monday morning.

“We’re in the process of gathering information so we know what happened,” Harris said. “When we know what happened, we will make a decision.”

Rutherford’s situation is the third in a series of off-field incidents that have presented problems for the Pitt football team this summer.

At the end of spring practice in April, sophomore wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was compelled to leave the team to attend his mother’s funeral. Additionally, in June, sophomore wide receiver Billy Gaines died after falling through a church ceiling in Homestead. Gaines, in addition to kicker David Abdul, tight end Steve Buches, guard John Simonitis and linemen Neal Tracey and Joe Villani, had been drinking that night at a church cookout.

Despite these issues, Harris believes that his football team is ready for the challenge that Kent State will present to them on Saturday night.

Kent State comes into Heinz Field fresh off a last-second win against Akron last Saturday. Junior quarterback Joshua Cribbs, who completed 25 of 43 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns last week, leads the Golden Flashes against a Pitt defense that Harris has praised for its quickness.

“Joshua Cribbs is an outstanding quarterback, [Antwan] Smith is an outstanding slot [receiver], and Alston is a good runner,” Harris said.

When Pitt faces off against the Golden Flashes on Saturday night, it will look to maintain its perfect record against teams from the Mid-American Conference.

“We have great respect for the MAC,” Harris said. “The entire league is filled with good teams and good coaches.”

In order for Pitt to win on Saturday night, Harris said, his team must take care of the football. Harris expects running back Brandon Miree to be a dominating runner and looks forward to watching junior wide receiver Princell Brockenbrough in his first game.

“[Offensive coordinator] J.D. [Brookhart] has done a real nice job with Princell,” Harris said. “We’re looking forward to watching him play when it counts.”

Harris also took Tuesday’s press conference as an opportunity to announce who would be the backup quarterback. The announcement is especially relevant, given Rutherford’s current predicament.

“Luke Getsy is our backup quarterback,” Harris said. “We feel he gives us more as our backup quarterback.”

The announcement generates yet more controversy, given the presence of much-touted sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko on the team. However, Harris said that Palko took the announcement in stride, and praised the young man for his team spirit.

“Tyler is a tremendous competitor,” Harris added. “His goal is to become a better football player, and his goal is my goal.”

Harris is unsure about what to expect from his team in the first game on Saturday night, saying that he has been flattered by all the preseason attention his team has garnered, but also noted that his team has not won a game yet and has not proven anything.

“We’re proud of being an elite team,” Harris added. “But we’re going to find out some things Saturday night at 7, and beyond.”