With the insertion of Trey Anderson in the fourth quarter, there was lots of speculation about Todd Graham’s decision at quarterback for the game next weekend at Iowa. Graham squashed any notion of a controversy, declaring Tino Sunseri as his starter:
“In all honesty the last interception that Tino threw was on us [the coaching staff],” Graham said. “We planned on putting Trey in anyway, it wasn’t that I pulled Tino, it was a planned deal, we were going to play [Anderson] anyway. I still have 100 percent belief in Tino and like I told you at the beginning of the year, he has a very difficult job, he has a lot on his plate and we’ve got to execute better at that position.
“But Tino is our quarterback and will be next week and we will move forward from there. I didn’t want to come out of this week, playing against an opponent we should totally dominate, and not get another quarterback any reps.”
I went over this on the Cardiac Hill blog, but I’m not sure this issue is dead. It may be for next weekend, but I think Tino will have a shorter leash.
Sure, Graham may have wanted Anderson to get some playing time, but the simple fact is that Tino didn’t play very well in the Maine game. It’s hard to be too rough on him because the offensive line didn’t help, constantly allowing him to be pressured. But the two interceptions were both poor throws into covered receivers and Pitt can’t afford those types of mistakes against better teams.
Anderson may not start next week, but that doesn’t mean he won’t play if Tino struggles.