Preview: Pitt Prepared for Final Game

The Pitt Panthers prepare for their last match of the regular season against Boston College

Nov 16, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Nate Yarnell (19) passes against the Boston College Eagles during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers look to salvage what is left of their season this weekend in their final matchup of the regular season against Boston College.

After having the best start since 1982, Pitt football is 7-4. Boston College was once a pivotal game for Pitt to win to make it to the ACC Championship, but now it feels practically insignificant. 

The Panthers are playing to salvage what they have left of their once-exciting season. The Panthers losing four in a row is bad, losing five in a row to cap off their regular season is even worse, especially in an era with the NCAA Transfer Portal always readily available. 

Pitt’s game against Boston College this weekend isn’t important for any postseason reasoning.  It’s important to keep continuity within the Pitt program and not let the devil of the Transfer Portal start calling for Pitt’s star players. 

The odds are against the Panthers this weekend, literally and figuratively. The Eagles are favored by 5.5 according to ESPN Bet and the Panthers’ starting quarterback, redshirt freshman Eli Holstein, likely won’t play due to the injury he suffered in the second quarter against Louisville. 

But Holstein has struggled recently, passing for just 152.5 yards per game in the four contests before last weekend's matchup against Louisville. When coming in to replace Holstein, redshirt junior Nate Yarnell didn’t look all too great either. 

Yarnell completed below 50% of his passes (11 of 23) and threw for only 4.17 yards per attempt while throwing one touchdown and an interception. Yarnell’s game against No. 20 Clemson where he started for a concussed Holstein was much more respectable. 

The redshirt junior completed 63% of his passes (34 of 54) and threw for 350 yards, good for 6.48 yards per attempt. Yarnell also threw an interception on the final play of the game and a touchdown earlier in the game against Clemson.

This weekend, the probable Pitt starter, Yarnell, will start against Boston College junior quarterback Grayson James who also started the 2024 season as his team’s backup. But he didn’t earn the job because of an injury to the starter. 

Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien benched junior quarterback Thomas Castellanos midway through their game against Syracuse for James and since then James has led the Boston College offense. 

Since his benching, Castellanos has left the team and it was reported this week that O’Brien saw Castellanos as an outlier to his team. “99% of our guys are tough and smart, he was an outlier at BC,” O’Brien said about Castellanos to CBS Sports Network’s Andrea Kremer.

In James’ two starts since Castellanos’ departure, James has completed 61% of his passes (36 of 59), thrown for 432 yards and has two passing touchdowns and an interception. James has also rushed for 43 yards and ran for two touchdowns in the two matchups. 

On the ground, Boston College has the sixth-best rushing attack in the ACC with 180.7 yards per game. Senior running back Kye Robichaux leads the Boston College rushing attack. This season, he has rushed for 654 yards (No. 12 in ACC)  and has scored 10 touchdowns (9 rushing, 1 receiving). 

Through the air, the Eagles have the second-worst passing attack in the ACC with 185.2 yards per game. But a bright spot in the passing game has been redshirt junior wide receiver Lewis Bond. This season, he has 545 yards on 55 receptions (33 more receptions than a player with the second-most on the Eagles) and has scored three touchdowns. 

Defensively, the Boston College pass defense isn’t much better at slowing down the opponents' passing attack. Boston College allows an average of 242.2 yards per game (No. 13 in the ACC, but one spot ahead of Pitt). 

The Eagles, however, do excel at forcing opponent interceptions. They have forced the second-most interceptions in the ACC with 15 (No. 9 nationally). Leading the Eagles in interceptions is redshirt freshman defensive back Carter Davis who has three this season. Carter also has three pass breakups, 45 tackles and two forced fumbles this season. 

Boston College’s defense is much better at slowing down opponents' rushing attacks than they are against passing attacks. Boston College allows the sixth-least rushing yards in the ACC per game with 121.8 rushing yards. 

Since sack yardage counts against a team’s rushing statistics in college football, senior defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku has immensely helped the Eagles' rush defense. 

Ezeiruaku has 13.0 sacks this season, which is tied for second in the nation and tied for first among all Power Four defenders. Opponents have lost a total of 81 yards due to his 13.0 sacks. Ezeiruaku also leads Boston College in tackles, quarterback hits, and forced fumbles with 70.0, 12 and three, respectively. 

Boston College’s offense and defense rank No. 9 in the ACC for points scored and allowed per game. Boston College scores an average of 28.8 points per game and allows an average of 24.2 points per game. 

Pitt, on the other hand, scores an average of 32.6 points per game (No. 5 in the ACC) —skewed by their beginning-of-the-season performance— and allows an average of 26.1 points per game (No. 10 in the ACC). 

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