Don't rule out an encore performance from Nate Yarnell.
With a laundry list of players on the nonexistent injury report and with a Football Championship Subdivision foe in Rhode Island on the docket for this week, Pat Narduzzi provided some more clarity on what we might see on the field for his 24th-ranked Pitt Panthers by the time kickoff arrives at noon on Saturday.
Or, did he?
Yarnell commandeered the Panthers offense to a 34-13 win at Western Michigan on Saturday in Kalamazoo, and while his stats aren't putting him in any Heisman Trophy conversations, it at least gave Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. some thinking to do of whether to trot the redshirt freshman out again, or to re-insert starter Kedon Slovis (reported concussion) against the Rams.
"I think it comes down to comfort," Narduzzi said during Monday's press conference on the South Side, "but, yeah, I mean, we're going to do what's best for the health and safety of our kids first. I think, you know, Kedon's out of the woods. And if he is, you go play. He wanted to play last week, so we'll have to tie him down. We'll probably keep him off the field this week."
So, if that's the case, and Slovis is healthy, does he play?
Will he actually be kept off the field this week?
Does that indicate Yarnell is going to start again, after earning an ACC Rookie of the Week honor?
🏆 ACC Rookie of the Week 🏆
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) September 19, 2022
Nate Yarnell » @NateYarnell
9-of-12, 179 yards, 1 TD in first start#H2P » @ACCFootball pic.twitter.com/QQvVgwRgvS
Here we go! Even more questions!
Yarnell was good against Western Michigan, in completing 9 of his 12 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. He didn't orchestrate a symphonic masterpiece by any stretch, but he did enough to execute the game plan of letting the running backs shoulder the load.
Pitt rushed for 4.6 yards per carry and 238 total yards against the Broncos. Despite Western Michigan's efforts to stack the box in front of the line of scrimmage, Israel Abanikanda carried the ball 31 times for 133 yards and a touchdown, a week after totaling a career-high 154 yards against Tennessee. Vincent Davis added 83 yards on 11 carries in getting the backup role in place of the injured Rodney Hammond Jr.
"I thought our coaches had a great gameplan against a good football team," Narduzzi said. "We didn't want to put Nate out there and have him throw it 50 times a game or 25 times a game. That was not the plan. Our plan was to do what we did, and we executed the plan, and a tribute to our offensive line and what we can do."
Slovis was injured just before halftime of Pitt's game against Tennessee and missed the whole second half and overtime against the Volunteers on Sept. 10.
But, Narduzzi said after the Western Michigan game that Slovis was cleared to play.
He didn't, though he did dress and go through the entire warmup routine, but Slovis has now missed six of the team's 12 quarters (plus an overtime) of football.
With four to play until the ACC schedule officially begins with a matchup against Georgia Tech on Oct. 1, the "next man up" mentality and the survivor approach can only take Pitt so far. Slovis isn't the only injured player on the report, and he's certainly not the only starter.
Pitt's depth has been tested through three games, with players at the quarterback, running back, wide receiver, center, right tackle, defensive end, and cornerback positions having to adjust to players missing time.
Here are the injuries I noted after the Western Michigan game:
• DID NOT TRAVEL: QB Nick Patti, Hammond Jr., OC Owen Drexel, DE Dayon Hayes, DT Devin Danielson.
• DRESSED, BUT DID NOT PLAY: Slovis, OT Gabe Houy, DE Deslin Alexandre.
• INJURED DURING THE GAME: WR Jared Wayne, DB Marquis Williams, DE Nate Temple, DE Haba Baldonaldo.
That adds up to 12 players, and that includes eight starters, with Hayes, Danielson, and Temple checking in as prominent rotation players in their respective rooms.
(A report from early Monday morning said that Hayes was out for the season, which Narduzzi claimed was "bad information." The report suggested that Hayes was going to receive surgery that would keep him in recovery for six to eight months. Narduzzi has stated on record that if a player is out for the season, then he would notify us for public disclosure. Alas, I digress.)
Jake Kradel started at center in place of Drexel, which prompted Blake Zubovic into a start at right guard.
"Not easy to prepare for, but Kradel's done it (played center), he's listened to it," Narduzzi said. "Obviously Owen's usually giving the direction, but we knew Jake could do it just as well. They all got into Pitt, so they're all smart guys, you know that. They did a nice job up front."
Wayne and Williams returned to the Pitt sideline on Saturday in street clothes, and the ESPNU broadcast noted that Williams missed the second half with a foot/shin injury. Baldonaldo subbed out of the game with 8:40 left in the third quarter and didn't return.
And, now there's the floating speculation that Narduzzi could rest some players on Saturday, given the nature of the FCS opponent.
The quarterback is obviously the most important one here, and Narduzzi shedded some more light on Yarnell's role as a subbed-in signal caller. He had mentioned Yarnell wasn't handcuffed to Cignetti's play calls, and that he had freedom to audible and check plays at the line of scrimmage.
"Not only was he playing quarterback and taking snaps and all that, but he's making checks up there, as well," Narduzzi said. "He's making checks, he's changing runs, he's changing pass protections. He's doing it all. We weren't calling a play and saying, 'Just run it. Don't worry about anything else.' He was operating, and he had 100 percent decision making. He made great decisions with what we asked him to do, so that's impressive."
Narduzzi also noted that had Yarnell not been trusted with that ability, "we would have run into a lot of walls inside."
Watch Narduzzi's full press conference below:
