Pat Narduzzi promised that changes would be made during the Pitt bye week, and he’s delivered on that promise.
According to a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles, Phil Jurkovec has been benched as the Pitt starting quarterback, and Christian Veilleux will be the Panthers’ starting quarterback going forward.
Jurkovec completed 57-of-112 pass attempts (50.9%) for 818 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions through four-and-a-half games this season, but that stat line doesn’t tell the full story. He made the easy look impossible, failed to connect on his deep shots and actively contributed to three losses this season.
“We gotta bye week to figure out what we do well, what we don’t do well, stop doing what we don’t do well and do something better,” Narduzzi said after the loss to Virginia Tech. “And we gotta obviously change some things up. And that’s what we’ll do in the open week, is try to figure out what we gotta do to get first downs and touchdowns.”
Pitt has scored 15 touchdowns this season, which is tied for second-to-last in the ACC, but one of those touchdowns was a defensive score and another was a special teams score. That’s 13 offensive scores, and six came against winless Wofford. And with the fewest first downs in the ACC, it’s been a struggle to move the football.
Pitt is second-to-last in the ACC in scoring offense, last in scoring offense (last in passing offense and second-to-last in rushing offense) and just having a very tough time doing much of anything.
Veilleux, who came into the second half of Pitt’s loss to North Carolina last month, has completed 12-of-27 pass attempts (44%) for 145 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He did not play well against UNC, but he came off the bench cold and hadn’t been receiving first-team reps.
He will receive first-team reps in the week of practice leading up to Pitt’s matchup against No. 25 Louisville, and the Panthers will see what they have in the redshirt sophomore. It will be Veilleux’s first collegiate start.
Quarterback has been the most pressing issue offensively for the Panthers this season, and it remains to be seen if Veilleux or Nate Yarnell is the answer going forward, but Pitt will be able to see if Veilleux — who played well in limited opportunities with Penn State — is someone who can be the quarterback of the future throughout the remainder of the season.
Pitt is off this weekend, but the Panthers will return to Acrisure Stadium on Oct. 14 against Louisville, and it will be with Veilleux under center.
It’s a — seemingly — tough end to Jurkovec’s collegiate career as his college eligibility expires upon the conclusion of the season. It just didn’t work out between Pitt and the Gibsonia, Pa. native.
We’ve not lost 10 in a Season before! 3-9 or bust.
He has benched Jerkovec because he reads our comments!
Actually reality finally made him do it.
And/or there was massive pressure from above (Lyke, Chancellor, large donors — all tied together).
Lyke is going to end up back to the Big Ten. She knows what time it is.
So, you’re saying there’s still hope that Cignetti will be gone too.
Based on Jurkovec’s behavior I kind of expect him to quit
He’ll be back Monday.
The vast majority of fans have to be liking this news a great deal. I do feel somewhat sorry for Veilleux though. He’s getting thrown into a situation far, far worse than Jurkovec with Louisville, Notre Dame, and Florida State all on tap. And perhpas even worse, Cignetti is the one who’s supposed to properly prepare him for action. Not a fantastic time to step in fresh. I still think they should give Yarnell his shot now. Yarnell is not a transfer and, as a Freshman and first-time starter, he looked surprisingly poised against WMU two seasons ago.
Agreed, I think this may result in ruining Veilleux’s mentality on how to handle the pass rush. Let Yarnell take the beating and work the Canuck in when it is less risky.
This is such a loser mentality.
Pat had a week Off it was either go Visit recruits, update Resume to attract Michigan State, or watch game film of the first 5 games. Apparently he finally watched film.
I think Yarnell is a smarter choice.
Cig coached Veilleux for only this year. He may not be ruined yet.
Cig coached Phil J for three years, anyone coached by Cig goes down hill with each consecutive year.
I completely understand the decision and would agree that it is necessary and probably a few weeks late. However, I must admit that this is not such a happy scenario. As a Pitt fan for over 50 years I am also a follower of the WPIAL. When any WPIAL star does not come to Pitt I feel some level of disappointment. Remembering all of the press and hype surrounding Jurkovec coming out of Pine Richland I was very disappointed when his choice was Notre Dame. I am as equally excited in his return to Pittsburgh and Pitt. I am still… Read more »
Second year in a row Narduzzi went with the wrong QB. I’ll root for Veilleux and see what he’s got. Not even gonna bother wasting another second talking about Jurkovec. Not worth the time. Oh that’s right… I’m a grown ass man booing and I’m the one who is pathetic. How about not bouncing a screen pass buddy.
In the huddle:
Jurkovec: “Shotgun empty trips right, X fade.”
X Receiver: “why would I run 40 yards as fast as I can when you can’t complete a screen pass bro.”
This is good news. I’d rather see Yarnell but we will get to see what Vellieux can do
Narduzzi:
Couldn’t handle Whipple, Pickett, Addison getting a lot of the credit. Somehow found a negative in Whipple’s offense. 🤦♂️
One thing that gets lost is he had a chance to PROMOTE BRENNAN MARION TO OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR!!! What did he do instead? Hired Frank Cignetti! Check out UNLV’s offensive stats this year. And the players LOVED playing for him!!
Started Slovis over Patti.
Started Jurkovec for way too long.
Good points. Marion was a difficult loss. I always thought a bigger loss was Chris Beatty. Maybe one of the best recruiters during Narduzzi’s time. Although his aspirations are the NFL, I think with the right financial incentives and autonomy he should be our next OC and head coach in development.
Kedon Slovis seems to be doing OK.