An open week allowed for Pat Narduzzi to swap his quarterback -- the one position that was blatantly holding his team back -- and for that quarterback to have more than a full week to prepare for No. 14 Louisville as Pitt headed into an open week last week at 1-4.
The Christian Veilleux era is alive and well ... and it just might be the thing that saves Pitt from self-destruction in this forgetful 2023 season.
Veilleux's performance in this 38-21 upset over the Cardinals gives the Panthers something real to build upon even with a daunting road ahead.
"Just having a rough last four weeks, and our team needed this," Veilleux said. "We needed this to pick us up and get us back to playing the ball that we know we can play. It feels amazing and I wouldn't sacrifice anything else to celebrate this with my teammates."
The final act from the redshirt sophomore on this soggy Saturday at Acrisure Stadium came in the form of this 31-yard rainbow to Konata Mumpfield to give this ball game its final score:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 15, 2023
"Threw for 200 yards. That last fourth-down touchdown pass was right on the money to Konata," Narduzzi said. "Just made plays when he needed to. And again, our receivers made plays. Our offensive line did a great job. I think we gave up one sack on the day, so they did a good job protecting against that defensive line, and that pressure that they bring every day. Just can't say enough about what the offense did when they were out there and obviously the defense."
And, Veilleux got a little help from his friends on the other side of the ball.
It was this 86-yard interception return for a touchdown from M.J. Devonshire that sent the packed-up "Panther Pitt" student section into a frenzy:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 15, 2023
The Aliquippa alumnus Devonshire did that while fellow Aliquippa natives Tony Dorsett and Darrelle Revis were in attendance. His pick six was the third of his career and was the longest for a Panther since 1997.
"Darrelle spoke about it today. You only get a certain amount of opportunities," Devonshire said. "Sometimes you'd be blind to it and you'd miss it. but if your eyes are open and you're respecting it then you'll take advantage of those opportunities. ... I always get real nervous when (Revis) comes around especially when I have to play. Last time I played in front of him was the ACC Championship and one game in high school. We were playing Hopewell in high school and I was nervous like we were going to lose, and I knew we were going to win by a million. When he comes around it's -- being around him is like, this is my idol. He's so humble. I get to tell the story about how he scored a million touchdowns in the state championship and then turn around and drop 30 (in basketball) on Tuesday.
"Just being around that guy and knowing how humble he is and seeing the path he took. Being the guy that walked the same streets I walked. Being from the hill in Aliquippa, he did the same exact thing. Walked around my high school. That's motivating in itself, and seeing that was amazing today."
From Pitt past to Pitt present in another aspect, Veilleux's leadership in this win on Saturday is reminiscent of a certain recent Pitt quarterback and his accomplishment against a Top 25 team.
Rewind to Nov. 24, 2017, when a dead-in-the-water Pitt opposed No. 2-ranked Miami. Kenny Pickett guided Pitt to a 24-14 win and spoiled the Hurricanes' hope at a College Football Playoff bid.
Veilleux might not be Pickett, but history has a funny way of repeating itself.
Minimally, Veilleux looked more like a quarterback than Phil Jurkovec could have attempted by this point of the season. His play was an unquestioned bright spot and a major reason why Pitt won this game.
Take his 46-yard strike to Bub Means for a touchdown late in the first quarter as the example. Means struggled to have any sort of rapport with Jurkovec throughout the start of the season, but was able to connect with a pressured Veilleux for this score:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 14, 2023
Veilleux completed 12 of 26 passes for 200 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. He was sacked just once.
Veilleux's performance, though, was more about feel and flow than it was about stats. He engineered what was definitively the best drive by this offense all season towards the end of the first half, after Samuel Okunlola forced and recovered a fumble with his sack of Jack Plummer:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 15, 2023
That ensuing drive lasted 10 plays, traveled 71 yards over 5 minutes, and was ably assisted by a 34-yard rainbow completed to true freshman Kenny Johnson, who adjusted and hauled in the back-shoulder ball to set Pitt up at the Louisville 16-yard line. C'Bo Flemister punched in a 1-yard touchdown five plays later to tie the game at 14 with 1:23 left in the half. Veilleux passed for 59 of the 71 yards gained on the scoring drive.
"We executed, and when you drive the ball down like that you're feeling like they can't stop you, it definitely boosts your confidence and makes you comfortable and once you're rolling you feel like you can keep going," Veilleux said. "That drive was huge."
And then there was the 13-play, 61-yard drive that ate up 6:44 of game clock that gave Pitt a 24-21 lead on Flemister's second touchdown of the evening. That gave the Panthers their first lead in a second half since Week 1 against Football Championship Subdivision foe Wofford.
"Just belief and confidence," Veilleux said. "We were on the sideline -- great communication today. We knew that if we got out there then we needed to put points on the board and we had that edge to us to go and upset these guys and to go and have a great game. I think we delivered on that promise that we made to ourselves."
Devonshire picked Plummer off and found pay dirt seven plays later to seize momentum Pitt's way for good.
The Panthers' defense was exceptional in the second half. Louisville's drive chart in the final 30 minutes read: Turnover on downs, punt, interception, interception, field goal miss, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, turnover on downs.
Pitt sacked Plummer four times throughout the game, but the real applause-worthy effort is what was accomplished in the second half. Pitt held Louisville scoreless, Louisville racked up just eight rushing yards, and the Cardinals converted 2 of 8 third downs and 0 of 4 fourth downs.
"I thought we were just making plays out there," Shayne Simon said. "We knew they were going to get shots. (We got) TFLs, picks, interceptions -- we had a pick six and an interception in the second half, that's crazy. That's just guys making plays, guys having fun, and we've got some energy on the sidelines. When (Devonshire) got that interception, we were turnt. We felt that energy, too."
Back to the offense.
Veilleux is the solution for 2023. While everything was not perfect, most of what needed to be shown from the Penn State transfer was shown. Veilleux was decisive, he threw the ball with more zip than Jurkovec could imagine, and he played with some guts while making tough throws under pressure.
"We were going to find a way to get it done," Narduzzi said. "I'm just happy as heck for our football team. We needed that in a bad way."
Minimally, Veilleux showed -- for now -- he has the ability and deserves to be the starter for the rest of the season. A solution has been found in the short term.
How about the long term?
Bowl eligibility is a long shot by this point. That said, the next step for this Pitt team is to find a way to stack upon this performance that showed synergy of the defense creating opportunities for the offense and the offense finding timely plays and embarking on a long drive or two. This is the team that was desired from the start of the season. This team that was on the field Saturday evening can make it to a bowl game.
The road does not lighten up for these Panthers, however.
The rest of the 2023 slate from this point has combined for a 27-11 record, and two of the next three opponents are nationally ranked. All six of Pitt's remaining opponents boast a record of .500 or better, and No. 4 Florida State remained unbeaten with a rout of Syracuse Saturday.
Three bowl-game representatives were in attendance Saturday. Representatives from the TaxSlayer Bowl shook ands and exchanged pleasantries with Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke shortly before Narduzzi's post-game press conference started.
Anything can happen, right?
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Team feed
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• Out for the season: G Ryan Jacoby (leg), OT Matt Goncalves (foot), DB Rashad Battle (foot).
• Week-to-week: OC Jake Kradel (undisclosed).
• Returned: LB Bangally Kamara (foot), DT Devin Danielson (undisclosed).
THE SCHEDULE
Pitt (2-4, 1-2 ACC) treks to Winston-Salem, N.C. for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff against Wake Forest (3-3, 0-3) Saturday. I will have you covered from Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium.
THE CONTENT
• Visit the Pitt team page for more from Acrisure Stadium.
