PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – There could be a third different starting quarterback for the Panthers on Thursday night. Pat Narduzzi said he won’t announce a starter now and may not until game-time against Boston College.
Redshirt sophomore Christian Veilleux started his fifth consecutive game against Syracuse on Saturday going 13-22 for 161 yards with a touchdown, an interception and two fumbles in a 28-13 loss. He was replaced late in the game as the offense struggled by another redshirt sophomore Nate Yarnell. He would go 3-5 for 48 yards with no scores or picks. Yarnell came in late against Notre Dame and went 2-3 for 75 yards and a touchdown. He also led a victory in a start at Western Michigan last year, 10-14, 195 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s always hard when you make a position change at any position,” Narduzzi said Monday. “We have plenty of trust in both of those guys.”
No coaching changes
Penn State fired its offensive coordinator after losing to Michigan. Other coaches have fired coaches during a season, Narduzzi said no moves like that are coming from him.
“We evaluate every day,” Narduzzi said. “What we are doing and how we are doing it. Trying to get things corrected. It’s a team sport and it’s everybody. I tell the trainers they are involved, equipment you better not mess it up and certainly the coaches. We look at a daily basis what we are doing and how we are doing it and focus on Boston College.”
Missed tackles
Narduzzi said he would like his team to be more reckless stopping the run, but believes the physicality is mostly there. It’s just breakdowns. He said its often one player out of position which is leading to their issues stopping opposing rushers. Sometimes it’s bad technique, where a player is trying to tackle someone too high.
The Panthers gave up 382 rushing yards against Syracuse on Saturday.
“There is no room for error,” Narduzzi said. “I wouldn’t say we weren’t physical enough, you always want to be more. Defensively, when you talk about physical, they are about as physical as you can get. Just more leverage. The effort was outstanding.”
They will face the best rushing team in the ACC Thursday night. Boston College has over 2,000 yards rushing as a team and averages 203.4 yards per game. Their leading rusher is quarterback Thomas Castellanos (3rd in ACC) at 806 yards (and sacks count against rushing totals).
“He is a running back, back there and he can throw it,” Narduzzi said. “He’s impressive. I thought last week we saw some athletic quarterbacks. He is quick. He is fast, probably a 4.4 guy. He can put his foot in the ground and go. They found a diamond there.”
Playing others
Before the last game, Narduzzi said he wasn’t looking to play younger players necessarily, they were just trying to win the game. With now two games left, Narduzzi was asked again about getting some other players experience.
“We are trying to get the next win,” Narduzzi said. “That’s what it comes down to. Just want to win, just trying to win football games. If they can help us and they won’t take a redshirt game away from them. We will do that. We’ve done that with a couple guys already. If we get an opportunity put them in and they can help us, we will continue to do that.”
Opposing Tomlin
Boston College’s fourth leading receiver is Dino Tomlin, son of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. A transfer from Maryland, Tomlin has 19 receptions for 228 yards.
“I’ve been really impressed with him,” Narduzzi said. “He’s a play-maker. He’s become a trust-worthy guy in the offense. They’ll run jet sweeps to him.”
“I’m sure Coach Tomlin will be in his box watching his son. He’s been impressive. He’s got great hands and he finds a way to make a lot of plays. They will throw quick screens to him. He does a lot of different things.”
“We thought he was impressive out of high school as well. We offered him out of high school. He’s a good football player.”