Pitt Believes in Nate Yarnell as Starting QB Option

Pat Narduzzi lent his support towards Nate Yarnell as a starting option at quarterback for the Pitt Panthers in future seasons.

PITTSBURGH -- Despite the loss to Duke, Pat Narduzzi was encouraged by what he saw from Nate Yarnell on Saturday afternoon. 

In his second start of the season and third of his career, Yarnell went 25-for-35 through the air for 265 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. His performance marks the second-highest passing yard total for a Pitt quarterback this season while his two passing touchdowns are the most in a single game since October 21st against Wake Forest.

"Nate had one pick," Narduzzi said. "We had a receiver run into the official, kind of mess things up at the end there. We took four sacks. We’ll look to see what he did. But he protected the ball for the most part, threw one in the endzone. Again, just a missed opportunity down there so we’ll look at that and see, but I thought Nate played well and I like what I see out of him. He can get better. You know, third start ever. So he’s just going to keep getting better.”

While this season has been defined by quarterback controversy, Yarnell's recent play is one of the more promising developments of the year for Pitt in terms of what 2024 may hold for the program. It remains to be seen how the position group shapes out this offseason, but Yarnell has caught the attention of the coaching staff and cemented himself as a realistic starting option moving forward. 

"He’s a guy that can win football games for us," Narduzzi said. "He’s smart, he takes coaching, he’s tough and he made some good plays out there, but he made some mistakes too. But we’ve got a lot of faith in him.”

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