Nate Yarnell earns ACC Rookie of the Week honors after win over Western Michigan

The ACC named Pitt’s redshirt first-year quarterback Nate Yarnell the conference’s Rookie of the Week. Yarnell started in his first-ever college game this past week against the Western Michigan Broncos. 

With senior quarterbacks Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti nursing injuries, head coach Pat Narduzzi tapped Yarnell to lead the offense. The Texan had a near-perfect passing performance, completing nine of 12 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown.

This was the first time Yarnell appeared in a live game since 2019, when he was in high school. The rookie didn’t miss a beat in his first game back on the gridiron, rallying the offense to a 34-point performance. Narduzzi also granted Yarnell the honor of leading the fight song in the locker room after the win.

The Panthers’ next game is against the Rhode Island Rams on Saturday. Narduzzi said Slovis is “out of the woods” in regards to his injury, so Yarnell will likely see less playing time this weekend. But Narduzzi is notoriously cryptic in regards to injury matters and waits until the last moment to publicly name a starter.

Kickoff against the Rams is scheduled for noon at Acrisure Stadium. The game will air on the ACC Network.