PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Head coach Pat Narduzzi said it about his new starting quarterback after beating 14th ranked Louisville that he 'just made plays when he needed to'. It's not that Pitt needed a 300-yard passer, but just those plays. As Christian Veilleux led the Panthers to a 38-21 win over the Cardinals.
Receiver Bub Means said it really began from the time that Veilleux was named the starter after the Virginia Tech game. Means said he was laser focused during practice and came out to Acrisure Stadium and had the same performances he was having practice.
It was a throw to Means, 46 yards for a touchdown, that really steadied the ship after a rocky first three series where the offense had negative yardage.
"I'm pretty sure I didn't have a completion before that one," Veilleux said. "I was missing throws, being too antsy. That one I got back there and trusted it."
"I watched it in the locker room. I really stood back there and waited for him to get open and gave him the ball. I feel like, definitely getting that throw off settled me down and made me feel comfortable. I was ready to roll."
Veilleux missed his first five throws, six if you count the free opportunity on a Louisville offsides penalty. He would finish 12-26 for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions. The last TD being when the coaches trusted him on a fourth-and-one late to throw a 31-yard TD to Konata Mumpfield.
He called it a great call. He said he was excited when he heard the play that came in. You can imagine what that must do for his confidence for the coaches to allow a pass. He was also allowed to run more up-tempo than we saw through the first five games of the season, barring a two-minute drill.
"He stepped up man," said defensive captain Shayne Simon. "To come into this mid-season, to start as a quarterback. Playing quarterback is hard, as a defensive guy, we try to kill him every day in practice. Seeing how he stepped into the limelight, stepped into this game with the poise and presence that he had. You can't coach that, you can't teach that. That is something that is inside of him."
"He took over the game for us. He weathered the storm. Good and bad, we are riding with him. It was great to see him play, perform and have fun with it. I'm so glad for him, can't wait to see what he has in the future."
"We just beat the number 14 team in the country being 1-4," Veilleux said. "Just having a rough last four weeks, our team needed this. We needed this to pick us up and get us back to playing the ball we know we can play."
"That's my dog," Means said. "He's got swag. He's got a little swag about him that a quarterback got to have. I like his swag. I like his game. I like is preparation. I like his work ethic."
"He's a baller, Christian is a baller."
Now with an ACC win, the first road start for Veilleux Saturday afternoon at Wake Forest at 3:30p on 93.7 The Fan.
