Pat Narduzzi announced earlier this week that Eli Holstein wasn’t out for the season, and while he may not be done just yet, he isn’t starting the Pitt regular season finale against Boston College.
Nate Yarnell will start the finale against Boston College, Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported, which doesn’t come as a surprise after Holstein was carted off the field against Louisville last weekend with an apparent ankle injury.
Holstein returned to the sideline on crutches in the second quarter against Louisville, but it will be Yarnell — with more first-team reps in practice — against the Eagles.
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 injury.
Yarnell entered in relief and will have an extended run against the Eagles after completing 11-of-23 pass attempts (47.8%) for 96 yards with a touchdown and interception. He’s played in eight games this season (making a lone start against Clemson) and completed 75-of-125 pass attempts (60%) for 760 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions.
“Nate didn’t take a snap last week,” Narduzzi said after the Louisville loss. “He didn’t take a snap last week and I felt bad, I didn’t want to put him in that position. We’re gonna need him the rest of the way, I didn’t want him to get banged up — he got no reps. At that point, the game was not in a good position, and I was not going to lose another quarterback.
“So, I was protecting my players, I was protecting Nate. He was banged up a week ago, and he’s tough, he’s not gonna take himself out. We had to pull him out, he didn’t want to come out, but we needed to get him out of there. It wasn’t fair to put him out there and take some more.”
There’s seemingly a chance that Holstein could return for the bowl game, but 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.
Pitt and Boston College are scheduled to kickoff at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Boston, Mass. The CW Network will broadcast the conference clash.
How about this.
If NarDog wins this job, he keeps his job.
If he loses 5 in a row…to the moon.
Hopefully this genius coaching staff actually lets Yarnell practice this week. Best of luck to the team