If he chooses to use them, Pat Narduzzi will have both quarterbacks available Saturday when Pitt visits Louisville.

Narduzzi said Thursday that Eli Holstein, who left the Syracuse and Virginia games with apparent head injuries, has been cleared medically to play.

“He’s cleared to play right now,” Narduzzi said, without embellishment.

Holstein sat out the Clemson game last Saturday. Nate Yarnell started in his place and completed 34 of 54 passes for 350 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked eight times in the 24-20 loss.

Who starts this Saturday? Who even gets in the game? Who doesn’t?

“Still a work in progress,” Narduzzi said. “We’ll see as we get going here.”

Since 2020, Narduzzi has been able to recruit and develop two capable starters at quarterback — Holstein from the transfer portal and Yarnell through the traditional means of signing him out of high school.

Yarnell’s start against Clemson was the fourth of his four-year career at Pitt — he has gone 2-2 — and his first this season. He completed 79 of 120 passes (65.8%) for 1,001 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in those starts. Overall, he is 115 of 178 (64.6%) for 1,454 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Yarnell redshirted in 2021 before getting his first start the following year in a 34-13 victory at Western Michigan. He was the third option last year, starting the final two games after Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux were benched.

Holstein, a transfer from Alabama, was a redshirt freshman sensation early this season when he threw three touchdown passes in each of the first five games — all victories. He also totaled 1,567 yards through the air in those games.

But he has a total of only two touchdown passes and 610 yards since then, his playing time cut back dramatically by injury. Pitt has lost three of its past five games, thanks in large part to holding and procedural penalties and pressure on the quarterbacks.

Meanwhile, Pitt’s defense must deal with a unique creature on the collegiate landscape — the seventh-year senior quarterback.

Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough, who was in the 2018 high school recruiting class with four-year NFL veterans Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, started his career at Oregon in 2018. He inherited the starting job from Justin Herbert (now with the Los Angeles Chargers), led the Ducks to the Pac-12 championship game in 2020 (defeating USC and former Pitt quarterback Kedon Slovis, 31-24) before transferring to Texas Tech in 2021 and Louisville this season. Some Louisville observers believe he is the Cardinals’ best quarterback since Lamar Jackson.

How is he still playing college football at the age of 25? Other than the fact that he can really play?

He broke his collarbone in 2021 and fibula in 2023 four games into those seasons, earning him a medical hardship exemption. He also broke his collarbone in the 2022 opener, but returned in Game 7 of that season.

After several days of watching video of Shough (6-foot-5, 230 pounds), Narduzzi is impressed.

“This guy can sling the ball, and he’s mature. He’s an old man,” Pitt’s coach said. “I’m going to have him take his helmet off and check to see if he’s balding or not.

“You look at seven-year experience or one-year experience (Holstein) or three or four (Yarnell). He’s played a lot of football. He’s been through it. He’s seen it. He’s smart. You can see him read coverage. You can see him look off coverage.”

Told about the Lamar Jackson comparison, Narduzzi said, “He doesn’t run like Lamar, but he can probably throw it better than Lamar. If he could run like Lamar, he’d be a first-rounder. He’d be the first guy taken because he can sling it.”

Shough is third in the ACC with 2,774 passing yards, with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. Wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks leads the conference in receiving yards (945) and is fifth with an average of 16.6 per catch.

“They like to take shots,” Pitt cornerback Ryland Gandy said. “We have to make sure we’re not letting anything over our heads.”

The Cardinals (6-4, 4-3) also will attack Pitt with a solid ground game. Isaac Brown, one of the top freshmen in the conference, has rushed for 803 yards and leads the ACC with 7.4 per carry. Freshman teammate Duke Watson averages 8.5 but with only 40 carries.

Brown has a shoulder injury, and coach Jeff Brohm was hopeful he will play against Pitt. Watson replaced Brown in the 38-35 loss to Stanford (3-7, 2-5) last week and ran for 117 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries.

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