Pac-12 football in the fall? Play ball, says a leading epidemiologist (but there’s a caveat)

As infectious disease experts go, George Rutherford qualifies as both five-star recruit and first-round pick.

He’s a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF, the world-renowned biomedical research institution.

He’s the director of UCSF’s Prevention and Public Health Group within the school’s Institute for Global Health Sciences.

He has served as a lead investigator for the CDC on infectious disease cases in Africa.

Oh, and Rutherford is a college football fan — specifically, a Stanford fan.