He had starting experience in the past when Pickett (their QB last year) was injured and had thrown for almost 500 yards and 3 tds in 3-4 games as a starter. He wasn't some wide eyed newb thrown in on a moment's notice. Beyond that he had one sustained drive and made a heroic throw on 4th down, which I would call rising to the occasion. Is that ideal? No, but it isn't like they scored a ton of points in the second half either.
He surely didn't keep them in the game, aside from that fourth down miracle throw, it was our turnovers that kept them in it. Cut out the stupid fizzleing tornovers and we cruise to a 10-14 point lead IMO, which was my prediction for this game all along.
But hey, if nothing else, we broke a long string of losing to backups, right?