Still no backup quarterback

The competition for the role of backup quarterback raged on Thursday when the Pitt… The competition for the role of backup quarterback raged on Thursday when the Pitt football team held its final spring practice before Saturday’s annual Blue-Gold scrimmage.

Still, Pitt head coach Walt Harris said the duel for the backup quarterback spot between sophomore lefty Tyler Palko and redshirt freshman Luke Getsy has yet to be decided.

“That hasn’t been decided yet,” Harris said. “We have kept them live though.”

Palko and Getsy took a majority of the snaps during drills in practice prior to Thursday’s scrimmage, but once the scrimmage started, each saw equal playing time with senior Rod Rutherford who has already been anointed starting quarterback.

Getsy looked sharp in prescrimmage drills against the linebackers and defensive backs, throwing tight spirals to a multitude of targets, with seemingly more power than Palko.

However, Getsy tripped and fell down after taking a snap and stayed down for a brief period before gingerly hobbling off to the sidelines. After spending several minutes on the bench, he returned to the huddle.

Palko seemed to struggle in the prescrimmage exercises as he was frequently flushed out of the pocket and sent scrambling by the linebackers, often forcing him to throw the ball away.

Once the scrimmage started, the defense took control. Junior defensive lineman Vince Crochunis broke through the offensive line on several occasions, either sacking or hurrying the quarterback. Senior linebacker Lewis Moore also stood out as he made several excellent tackles in the backfield and the Panther defense completely shut down the running game.

“I thought today the defense really put the heat on the offense,” Harris said.

Palko looked exceptionally sharp in the scrimmage. He executed on several designed runs – one for 9 yards – and dove over a pile of linemen to score the scrimmage’s first touchdown.

On Palko’s next drive, he scrambled for 15 yards, setting up a 6-yard touchdown pass to backup fullback Justin Acierno.

Getsy struggled during the scrimmage, failing to drive the offense into the red zone. He was sacked twice and fumbled the ball once.

On his most successful play while running the offense, Getsy tossed a screen pass to junior running back Raymond Kirkley, who took the ball 35 yards downfield before turning the ball over after fumbling.

“If you were playing offense [against] that defense, you’d probably feel real bad,” Harris said. “[The offense] was much too sloppy with the football.

Kirkley showed great acceleration and displayed improvement at catching the ball out of the backfield.

Senior running back Brandon Miree, the likely starter, saw limited playing time as Kirkley and sophomore Jawan Walker took most of the carries. However, despite his few opportunities, Miree had no problems finding holes to run through during practice.

Wide receiver Chris Curd, a 6-foot-3-inch senior, also stood out. Curd, a three-year letterman, has played mostly at special teams in his time at Pitt, but his height and ability to catch the ball with regularity should lead to both more playing time and more opportunities to contribute to the offense.

Noticeably absent from the Panthers’ scrimmage on the South Side Thursday was sophomore wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. According Harris, Fitzgerald has left campus and gone home to attend to a family situation and will not play in the Blue-Gold scrimmage on Saturday.

The only other scratch for Saturday’s game will be defensive lineman Claude Harriott, who is sidelined with an injured left knee. Harris said Harriott will likely begin running again in about six weeks.

The Blue-Gold scrimmage will take place this Saturday at North Hills High School’s Martorelli Stadium. Admission is free to all those who attend.