Breisinger: Pitt Can’t Afford QB Mismanagement This Season

If Pitt is serious about proving last year is not what Pitt football stands for then it cannot afford mishandling another quarterback situation.

We are two weeks out from the start of the Pitt football season and questions around the starting quarterback job still linger, not only for who starts the opener but who is the signal caller throughout the 2024 season.

Head coach Pat Narduzzi mentioned on Thursday before practice No. 13 that there is not an appointed starter yet against Kent State.

At this time last year, Boston College transfer and Pine-Richland product Phil Jurkovec was the known starter, and in hindsight, maybe they should have looked a little harder into their second and third options.

With offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. too firmly in Jurkovec’s corner, the Panthers’ offense walked lifelessly from Week 2 through 5 – it was brutal.

A team that had won 20 games over the past two years saw all that momentum washed away by quarterback incompetency and the stubbornness to hold out on Jurkovec’s turnaround.

When boos rained down throughout Acrisure Stadium after a flat-out embarrassing performance from Jurkovec in which he completed 10-of-32 passes (31%) against Cincinnati – which stands as one of the worst completion percentages for a Pitt quarterback to throw beyond 25 passes in a game – Pitt had the chance to cut the cord right then and there.

Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Phil Jurkovec (5) September 9, 2023 David Hague/PSN

Instead, Jurkovec took the field against West Virginia. And then again against North Carolina. Even after leaving the UNC game, he was penciled in as the starter at Virginia Tech. If you closed your eyes for 20 seconds last fall, good for you, because you missed Pitt dropping to a lowly 1-4 with a quarterback that was just not good.

This is not the MLB where you have 162 games or the NBA with 82 games, or even the NFL with 17 games. You have only 12 games to piece together a season and realistically by Week 3 or 4, you have a strong idea of who you really are.

Pitt had to know what they were after that West Virginia game – a team with poor quarterback play that could not move the ball and basically hung the defense out to dry.

The Panthers and Narduzzi cannot afford to have the same quarterback malpractice they did a year ago.

Maybe Narduzzi has learned from the scenario that unfolded last season, and even the misses in 2022 with Kedon Slovis under center.

Narduzzi typically allows the offensive coordinator to pull the strings, but that could be different this year and could impact how long of a leash he and offensive coordinator Kade Bell give the Day 1 starter.

“We’ve talked about it,” Narduzzi said on Thursday about approaching the quarterback job. “I trust Kade, but you live and learn. Sometimes you can trust too much in this world, but I’ll be on top of it.”

Perhaps Narduzzi had too much trust in Cignetti, who, in turn, put all his trust in Jurkovec.

Either way, Narduzzi and Bell need to work together by closely monitoring this year’s quarterback situation between Nate Yarnell and Eli Holstein.

Yarnell and Holstein working on their post throws: pic.twitter.com/uvmJzy58IZ

— Nathan Breisinger (@NateBreisinger) August 15, 2024

Do they have certain parameters set in place as to when it’s time, if they do, they aren’t sharing. But, I’ll tell you this much, there is not a whole lot of room for error and there has to be more urgency when it comes to making a decision.

More importantly for Narduzzi, he cannot sit around and wait for his season opening quarterback to try and hit his stride halfway through the season. Narduzzi did himself a favor by bringing in Bell, a complete 180 from his previous coordinators, but there is mounting pressure on the Panthers to turn things around after last season. No more 3-9.

Pitt cannot limp into ACC action in Week 5 with mediocre quarterback play. This offense is predicated on scoring points, and you simply can’t score in college football without throwing the ball.

When Pitt finally switched to backup Christian Veilleux, it provided a spark as the Panthers knocked off a ranked Louisville, although that twinkle burned out quickly thereafter.

While that experiment did not last, it made everyone wonder what could have been if Jurkovec had been shown the bench earlier.

Time and time again throughout the summer, Narduzzi has insisted that there is a battle unfolding, despite sticking by Yarnell as the current No. 1 option.

“They are both pressing. They’re both working at it, working their tails off, coming in late, spending more time to be the best. We’re seeing them compete every day. I love the competition out there. You got two really good quarterbacks battling,” Narduzzi said.

Last season, Pitt’s offense ranked last in scoring offense (20.2 ppg), last in first downs (16.3 per/g) and third down conversions (31.3 percent), and Yarnell was a part of those numbers.

Yarnell will most likely have a few games to prove himself, but Holstein is a compelling option waiting in his shadow who has shown athleticism and can throw the ball well.

As for now, we await a decision from Bell and Narduzzi on who gets the official starting nod, whether that may be directly after scrimmage No. 2 this Sunday or just days before the opening kick.

So, when decision time comes and whoever they trot out there for those Big 12 matchups – expect both Yarnell and Holstein to potentially receive snaps against Kent State – how long is too long when the water gets murky?

Pitt does not have the option to sit on its hands and bite its tongue as it did last year.