Boston College Athletics
O'Brien Says Porter Will Start, Peterson Will Play
August 24, 2003 | Football
Aug. 24, 2003
After an intense battle through preseason camp between juniors Quinton Porter and Paul Peterson, Boston College head football coach Tom O'Brien announced Sunday afternoon that Porter will start at quarterback as the Eagles open their 106th football season next Saturday against Wake Forest.
"Right now, we feel Quinton gives us the best chance to move our offense and win football games," O'Brien says. "As I said after the third scrimmage, it was going to be a hard decision, one we didn't take lightly. We took our time. We evaluated everything and made our decision to start Quinton."
Porter has been waiting in the wings behind Brian St. Pierre for the past two seasons but was dogged by a knee injury last season and was sidelined early in spring drills with a broken collarbone. The junior from Portland, Maine, established state and school records when he threw for 4,800 yards and 62 touchdowns in his high school career. He completed 56 percent of his pass attempts and earned SuperPrep All-America honors.
O'Brien says he does plan to insert Peterson for at least one series in the Wake Forest game, probably in the second quarter. "I feel that he has earned that right," O'Brien says. "Not having seen him under pressure, I prefer to get him in the game. We have to do that, because he hasn't had any game experience with us. I've only seen him in practices and scrimmages. We have to get the backup in the game. We have to see how he's going to perform. He has to get some experience so we have a feel of where he's going to go and what he's going to do once he gets into a football game."
In Ephraim, Utah, some 2,453 miles from Chestnut Hill, Peterson earned All-America honors as the quarterback at Snow College, where he threw for 2,982 yards and 35 touchdowns in 10 games in 2002. Both quarterbacks showed signs of good things to come in the team's intrasquad scrimmages during preseason camp; Peterson completed 20 of 26 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns in BC's second scrimmage, while Porter was 13-for-19 for 212 yards and a touchdown in the team's final scrimmage on Aug. 20.
"It's Quinton's job," O'Brien says. "He should not be looking over his shoulder. If he makes a mistake, I'm not going to yank him out of the football game. But, as with every other person on this football team, he has to perform."
