Rutherford, Knight excelled
admission many years later, Toncic wasn’t a great quarterback — no better than Dwayne Wallace as a point guard.
Alex Van Pelt and Sean Miller, 1991-92: The leading passer in Pitt history and the No. 2 assist man. There are a couple of issues with their candidacy, though — Van Pelt’s sophomore and junior seasons. They actually overlapped as QB and PG for two years, from 1990-92, but it just so happens that those were the two worst for Van Pelt (statistically, at least). He tossed just 29 touchdowns to 31 interceptions from 1990-91, and Pitt went a combined 912-1, accordingly. Van Pelt had his best individual season as a senior, and Jerry “Ice” McCullough was actually a pretty good point guard post-Miller, but Pitt football was 3-9 in 1992, so … ouch for thatcombo.
Pete Gonzalez and Vonteego Cummings, 1997-98: Two Pitt athletics folk heroes, for certain. Were they both very productive in their final seasons as Panthers? Gonzalez threw for 2,657 yards, 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Cummings averaged 19.5 points, 5.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds. Check and check. But was either program particularly good that year? Well, not so much. Football was 6-6, getting whacked by Southern Mississippi in a bowl game, and basketball was 11-16 with Cummings leaving early to be a firstround NBA draft pick.
Tyler Palko and Carl Krauser, 2004-05: Arguably the finest statistical seasons of both players’ careers, and bonus points for the hype that accompanied each. Sure, this was Palko’s first season starting under center, but there was much anticipation for the big-time backyard recruit to get his shot as a redshirt sophomore after two years waiting in the wings. And for Krauser, he entered his redshirt junior season as a bona fide star, having proven he was more than capable of running Jamie Dixon’s team. Indeed, the future was bright at both positions. But guess what? While Palko’s first and only 3,000-yard season helped Walt Harris go 8-4 and reach a BCS game — hey, that’s pretty good! — Krauser’s 16 points per game led the way to nothing more than what amounted to a down year for Pitt basketball in those days, complete with a first-round loss to Pacific in the NCAA tournament.
That brings us to the likely answer to our original query. And the hard numbers certainly back up these guys (or do they?) …
Rod Rutherford and Brandin Knight, 2002-03: Now, you might be thinking, ‘Wait, if I recall correctly, Rutherford’s record-setting season, The Larry Fitzgerald [almost] Heisman Year, wasn’t until the following season, 2003.’ You are correct. And you might even recall that the year Knight won Big East player of the year was 2001-02, the year before Rutherford took over for David Priestley. Rutherford and Knight were both just pretty good — 2,783 yards, 22 touchdowns, 12 interceptions for the former; 11.3 points, 6.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds for the latter — in the year they overlapped, as Rutherford was learning on the job and Knight was struggling with injuries. In reality, Rutherford’s legendary season (3,679 yards, 37 touchdowns, seemingly all to Fitzgerald) coincided with a not-too-shabby year from not Knight but Krauser (15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists). Does that mean Rutherford-Krauser is, in fact, the best quarterback/point guard duo ever? Not quite. Team success is still enough to lift Rutherford-Knight. The 2002 Pitt football team finished 9-4, with all four losses coming to ranked teams before whooping Oregon State in the Insight Bowl. And the 2002-03 men’s basketball squad lost a 77-74 Sweet 16 heartbreaker to some kid named Dwyane Wade and Marquette — otherwise, a balanced bunch that won the Big East tournament might have been a Final Four team.
All hail Rod Rutherford and Brandin Knight. They are the tandem to which future Pitt quarterback and point guard contemporaries should aspire.