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BREAKING: Pittsburgh Panthers QB Kenny Pickett did not travel with team, will not play vs Miami

A new QB will be at the controls for the Panthers today.

By Cameron J. Underwood
NCAA Football: Pittsburgh at Boston College Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Minutes ago, Brett McMurphy of Stadium reported that Pittsburgh Panthers QB Kenny Pickett would not play today against Miami.

This report was subsequently corroborated by multiple other journalists.

That means that Pittsburgh will be going with a new starting QB for the first time against Miami since.....Kenny Pickett’s starting debut in 2017. We all know what happened that day: the then-freshman Pickett helped Pitt engineer a massive upset of the #2 ranked Hurricanes.

This should give you a good amount of concern if you’re a Miami fan. The Canes have NOT fared well against first-time starting QBs in recent years. I wrote the below linked piece about that, and this was BEFORE Hendon Hooker went bonkers and led VT to an upset win last year over Miami, so add that to the list of players in the piece, as well.

There had been rumors and rumblings that Pickett might not play today for a couple days, so I was up late last night and did some digging into the backup for Pitt. Here’s what I found:

  • Both Joey Yellen and Davis Beville are redshirt freshmen.
  • Yellen is from Mission Viejo, CA. He picked Arizona State over Brown and Georgia (what an INCREDIBLE top 3 that is, no?)
  • Yellen played in 1 game for ASU last year. He went 28/44 for 292 yards with 4 TDs and 2 INTs in a 31-26 loss to USC.
  • Who was Yellen’s Offensive Coordinator for this performance at ASU? Miami WR’s coach Rob Likens.
  • At Pitt, Yellen is 2-3 for 19 yards this season. He’s been sacked twice for -11 yards.
  • Beville is from Greenville, SC. He picked Pitt over Appalachian State and several FCS offers before enrolling early last year andredshirting.
  • Beville has “appeared” in 2 games this year, but has not recorded a statistic.

So there you have it. Either Joey Yellen gets his 2nd extended game experience of his short college career and first start, or Beville crosses the sideline with a helmet on in a situation that matters for the first time since HS.

We’ll see who it is, and how they perform, when Miami and Pittsburgh kick off at Noon.

Go Canes