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For the second time this week, Pitt has lost a quarterback from the 2018 roster, as Ben DiNucci announced on Thursday that he is leaving the program.
DiNucci, a redshirt sophomore from Pine-Richland, played in 10 games this season. He opened the year as Max Browne’s backup, but as the offense struggled, the coaches gave DiNucci the start in Week Four at Georgia Tech.
A week later, Browne was the starter again, and that seemed like it would hold for the rest of the season. But the redshirt senior suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week Six at Syracuse, and DiNucci was back in place as the starter.
That lasted for the next five games before the coaches turned to freshman Kenny Pickett in the loss at Virginia Tech. Pickett played the final three quarters of that game and cemented his position as Pitt’s starting quarterback of the future by leading the Panthers to an upset of then-No. 2 Miami in the regular-season finale.
DiNucci started six games total this season; Pitt was 2-4 in those six games. In his 10 appearances, DiNucci completed 55.7% of his passes for 1,091 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. He also had 126 yards and one touchdown on 55 rushing attempts.
DiNucci was Pat Narduzzi’s first quarterback recruit, committing to the Panthers in January of 2015. He had been committed to Penn, but when Pitt lost a quarterback commitment in the first month after Narduzzi was hired, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney offered DiNucci a scholarship, and he flipped his commitment.
DiNucci’s transfer comes a few days after redshirt freshman quarterback Thomas MacVittie, who did not log any snaps at quarterback this season, made a similar announcement regarding his future. With DiNucci and MacVittie both gone, Pitt is currently projected to enter the 2018 season with two scholarship quarterbacks: Pickett and incoming freshman Nick Patti.
