Pitt gears up for an unknown quarterback situation on the road

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The biggest storyline entering Pitt’s game against Virginia Tech on Saturday at Lane Stadium will be the status of Hokies starting quarterback Braxton Burmeister. The senior signal caller left last week’s game against Notre Dame with an apparent right shoulder injury, only to return later in the contest.

Virginia Tech ended up losing to the Irish 32-29. Rumors circulated earlier this week that Burmeister may be set to miss significant time, but Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente put those to rest during his Monday press conference.

"Everything I've heard is he's going to be good to go,” the Hokies coach said.

Later in the week, Burmeister said the same thing to reporters.

“I feel like I can go out there and throw it the same as I’ve been throwing it,” Burmeister said this week. “There’s nothing holding me back.”

Burmeister is instrumental to the Virginia Tech offense. He has thrown for 930 yards and five touchdowns and is also his team’s leading rusher with 189 yards and two scores. All signs point to him suiting up against the Panthers on Saturday, but Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said his team is preparing for anything.

“There’s no question,” he said when asked about preparing for players other than Burmeister. “I mean you always do. We prepared for really three quarterbacks this week.”

Virginia Tech’s primary backup Connor Blumrick is out indefinitely according to Fuente. That leaves a pair of freshmen waiting in the wings if Burmeister isn’t quite 100%, Knox Kadum, and Tahj Bullock.

Kadum has 11 career passing attempts, while Bullock, a true freshman, has primarily been on the scout team all season. Whoever is out there, the Pitt head coach knows that the Hokies like to use their quarterback to run the football, especially against the Pitt defense.

“They like quarterback runs,” he said. “So we’ve prepared for all the quarterback runs, regardless of who it is at quarterback.”

Despite the question marks, all indications out of the Virginia Tech camp this week suggests the starting quarterback will play on Saturday, even if he isn't 100%.

“He makes plays,” Narduzzi said of Burmeister. “He’s fast, legitimately fast and anybody I’ve talked to talks about his speed.”

Burmeister is clearly the top option for the Hokies, but the Oregon transfer has struggled at times this season. He has been sacked 11 times in 2021, including six times alone in a 27-21 loss to West Virginia back in September.

Despite the success from the Mountaineers that day, Narduzzi said given the difference of their defense and his, there’s not a ton to take from studying that film.

“We watched all the big plays in that game and some of the different stuff that they did in that game formationally, but because they are three-down it doesn’t relate to what we do at least until third down comes around,” he said of the pressure on Burmeister that came from West Virginia.

The Panthers are looking to improve to 5-1 and 2-0 in the ACC when they head to Blacksburg this weekend. Pitt defeated Virginia Tech 47-14 a season ago at Heinz Field, but have had its troubles when the team plays at Lane Stadium, including a 28-0 setback back in 2019.

Pitt is 2-7 all-time in Blacksburg, and Narduzzi is 1-2 himself leading the Panthers there. Of course the stadium is known for having a raucous home field advantage and it’s famed entrance to the Metallica hit single, ‘Enter Sandman’.

Pitt practiced with crowd noise and the Hokies unofficial fight song blaring over the speakers this week, a common procedure when the team travels on the road according to Narduzzi.

“We do all the time, every game away if they’ve got some type of music,” he said. “But we play the music because that’s what you’re going to hear during the game. Just trying to give you the same atmosphere that you are going to have on game day. So getting used to hearing that song.”