Pat Narduzzi Details Moving Pieces in Pitt Quarterbacks Room

Pat Narduzzi left more questions than answers when it comes to the future of the Pitt quarterback room over the last two games of the season.

Eli Holstein returned to the starting lineup against Louisville after dealing with injuries over the last couple of weeks, but he only played a drive-and-a-half before he left the game with what was seemingly a serious ankle injury.

Nate Yarnell entered in relief, and he could be the starter going forward, but Narduzzi said that Holstein didn’t suffer a season-ending injury — it wasn’t as bad as his injury a week ago, Narduzzi said.

So, there’s seemingly a chance that Holstein could return for the bowl game this season.

In the meantime, Yarnell is the starter. If he’s healthy, and he’s certainly taken some shots over the last couple of weeks, he’s the starter. And as it stands, walk-on David Lynch is the backup.

It was a surprise that Narduzzi chose to insert Lynch over Ty Dieffenbach in the fourth quarter of the loss to Louisville, but it’s the result of Lynch performing better in practice than Dieffenbach.

“When it just came down to the focus every single day in practice and the details, when you get your snaps, you’ve got to make your snaps worthwhile,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly presser. “And it just seemed like we weren’t getting what we wanted out of Ty right now. And again business decisions. I don’t care if you’re a walk-on or scholarship player. I’d, obviously, love to — I don’t care.

“Go back to Sam Scarton starting at kicker instead of Ben Sauls. Which, we knew Ben was a phenomenal kicker back when he was a freshman, but you’ve got to put it through the yellow uprights. We’re playing the best players. We’re trying to win football games. We felt David gave us the best chance of winning right now.”

Narduzzi said the decision to play Lynch doesn’t mean that Dieffenbach doesn’t have more talent, either, but it comes down to making the most of opportunities and proving it to the coaching staff on a consistent basis.

“You have to have it between the ears and work and effort into it to be that guy,” Narduzzi said. When you get three snaps in practice as a backup or third-team guy, you’ve got to make them mean something and it’s going to be like, wow, he’s doing the right thing. Comes down to just 100% focus and sometimes guys can do it and some guys can’t, as far as right in that moment when you get those opportunities.”

Narduzzi said the coaching staff decided that Lynch gave Pitt the best chance to win, which was a decision that was made weeks ago. There’s still love for Dieffenbach, who Narduzzi called a “great kid,” but Lynch was ready and Dieffenbach wasn’t.

Lynch, in his college debut, completed 5-of-7 pass attempts for 41 yards with an interception, which said was his one bad decision. He said Lynch operated, “as you’d expect” with limited reps.

It seems likely that Yarnell will receive first-team reps and Lynch will receive second-team reps in practice this week, with Holstein dealing with an injury that appears serious enough to keep him out for at least a game, but Narduzzi said he’ll know if Lynch is the top backup at the end of the week.

Pitt will conclude its regular season against Boston College on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Boston, Mass. at 3 p.m.