The feel-good vibes around Phil Jurkovec’s homecoming to Pittsburgh are gone. So is Jurkovec’s job as the starting quarterback for the Panthers.
Head coach Pat Narduzzi has benched the well-traveled Jurkovec in favor of Christian Veilleux ahead of a visit by No. 14 Louisville (6-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) on Saturday.
Pitt (1-4, 0-2) is off to the worst start of Narduzzi’s nine-year tenure due in large part to a passing game that struggled to generate much of anything over the opening five games.
Jurkovec, a high school star while growing up in the northern Pittsburgh suburbs who transferred to the Panthers for his final season after stops at Notre Dame and Boston College, completed just 51% of his passes for 818 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions.
“Phil is an unbelievable guy,” Narduzzi said. “He’ll do whatever you ask him to do. He took it like a champion.”
Veilleux is a sophomore who spent two years at Penn State before coming to Pitt last winter. He played in mop-up duty in an opening win over Wofford and came on for an injured Jurkovec in the second half of a loss to North Carolina on Sept. 23.
The 6-foot-4 Veilleux has completed 12 of 27 passes for 145 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions this season. He’ll make his first start against the surprising Cardinals, who are coming off an impressive victory over Notre Dame last Saturday.
“He’s got a quick release, throws a great ball, can throw it around and sling it,” Narduzzi said. “He wants to have his opportunity.”
Veilleux will be playing behind a banged-up and occasionally ineffective offensive line that’s been forced to use four different starting combinations in five games. Narduzzi stressed it doesn’t matter who is behind center if the other 10 players on the field don’t do their part, which has been an issue at times for Pitt.
The Panthers have allowed 13 sacks through five games and with the pass no threat to worry about, opposing defenses have crowded the line of scrimmage to stop Pitt’s running game. The Panthers are last or next to last in the ACC in yards, points and touchdowns.
Narduzzi downplayed a report that Jurkovec was making a switch to tight end. Jurkovec is currently listed second on the depth chart behind Veilleux and ahead of sophomore Nate Yarnell.
Either way, Veilleux will be tasked with trying to help Pitt avoid just its second losing season since Narduzzi was hired in December 2014.
It won’t be easy. The schedule includes the Cardinals, a trip to South Bend to face the Irish as well as games against No. 4 Florida State and No. 17 Duke in November.
“Nobody in our program is happy with where we are right now,” Narduzzi said. “We set a bar (over the) last two years and we’re not reaching it.”
