Canadian QB Christian Veilleux takes long road to top job at Pitt

So, Christian Veilleux, describe your journey to making your first start as a quarterback at the top level of NCAA football.

“I moved away from my family when I was 16 to go to Buffalo, then a few months later I moved to Maryland for my junior year, then a few months later COVID hit, then a few months later I’m going to Penn State,” Veilleux said over the phone this week.

“Two years later, I transfer. A few months after that, we’re here now.”

“Here,” for this young man, is Pittsburgh, where the Ottawa native just played a major role in one of the bigger upsets of the U.S. college football season.

After the Pitt Panthers won one of their first five games, coach Pat Narduzzi made a quarterback change, replacing Phil Jurkovec with Veilleux for last week’s home clash against previously unbeaten Louisville.

Veilleux, 21, threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns (with no interceptions on 12-of-26 passing after starting the game with five incompletions in the rain) as Pitt downed Louisville 38-21.

Not bad for the first Canadian QB to start a Power Five conference game since another Ottawa guy, former NFLer (and The Bachelor star) Jesse Palmer, did so in 2000 at Florida. (The Power Five features the five most prominent conferences in the NCAA: the ACC, where Pitt plays, the Big 12, the Big Ten, the Pac-12 and the SEC.)

“It was awesome,” the six-foot-four Veilleux said. “Finally getting an opportunity I’ve been working for for three years now, I would say. It was just very satisfying and very gratifying. Extremely happy our team was able to get that win against a real tough opponent at home. We’re all happy about it and looking forward to this week.”

It’s certainly a different kind of week — in a good way — for Veilleux as he prepares to start against Wake Forest (3-3) in Winston-Salem, N.C.

As Martin Veilleux, Christian’s father said, some of the obstacles his son had to overcome to get to this point “felt in and of itself like we needed to climb Mount Everest.”

When Christian decided his dream was to play NCAA football, the family started looking into playing against tougher competition at an American high school, where there would be more exposure to college scouts. Costs were prohibitive, but they made it work first in Buffalo (at Canisius High School) and then Maryland (at the Bullis School in Potomac) before COVID-19 hit in 2020.

The family decided at that point to have Christian come home. A month or so later, he verbally committed to Penn State.

That summer, there was an opportunity to compete at Elite 11, a top quarterback competition for high schoolers in the U.S. The Elite 11 organizers just wanted some tape.

“Some of his other pals also playing down south now were home. They were trying to organize to go out (and) throw the ball, and the cops would show up and say, ‘Guys, you can’t be out here’ (because of COVID restrictions),” Martin said. “He was trying to compete against guys down in the States, where the gyms were still open. It was a hard time for Christian.”

He eventually got his tape and competed at Elite 11 (the MVP that year was USC star and projected NFL top draft pick Caleb Williams), but Veilleux’s senior high school season was cancelled.

At Penn State, Veilleux had one exciting moment in his rookie season. He replaced ill starter Sean Clifford as the team battled a flu bug and threw for three touchdowns in a win over Rutgers.

But Clifford, now a Green Bay Packer, made every start in the two years Veilleux was in Happy Valley. Opportunities were few and far between.

Veilleux was third on the depth chart last year before deciding to enter the transfer portal.

“It was definitely frustrating,” he said. “There was never a point where I wanted to walk away. I’m always going to have love for this game, and when I get older, it’s going to be hard to let go. But being third-string, it was hard to be in that environment, knowing that I had no shot, which is why I transferred.”

Once again, there wasn’t an immediate opportunity to make a big impact at Pitt. Veilleux came in late and threw for one touchdown in a season-opening blowout win over Wofford and replaced an injured Jurkovec in a loss to North Carolina in Week 4, going 7-for-18 for 85 yards with two interceptions.

“Every corner, there’s been a challenge,” said Martin Veilleux. “It’s built resilience in Christian. He’s (learned) through that you just don’t quit. You keep your head down and you work.”

The results of that work showed up with his mom, Lynn Gibault, dad, brother, girlfriend, his billet family from Maryland and three friends from Ottawa among 46,296 in attendance for the victory under the lights at Acrisure Stadium — also home of the NFL’s Steelers.

The two touchdown passes were 31- and 46-yard strikes as Veilleux gave the Pitt offence a much-needed spark.

“To be the starter against a ranked opponent where nobody is giving you a shot to win and to go out and perform the way he did, it definitely brought smiles to all our faces and was very, very emotional,” Martin Veilleux said. “But we too as parents, we’ve driven into him the mentality to believe in yourself. At the end of the day, were we really surprised? No.

“We, equally as him, know that he can do this and to finally see it happen and for the opportunity for everybody else to see it as well, it was definitely a proud moment for the family.”

After Wake Forest, Pitt will play at a little school called Notre Dame. Two weeks later, there’s a chance to play at Yankee Stadium against Syracuse (which is the home team).

Pitt must win four of its last six games — three of which are against nationally ranked opponents (Notre Dame, Florida State and Duke) — to be bowl eligible.

“I really just want to get this team back to where it should be,” Veilleux said. “We had a rocky start. I want to win out, I want to win every single game we play. I want to see my teammates get back to having fun on the sidelines and playing with the brotherhood and love I know we have.”

Pitt, which last won the ACC title in 2021, has a proud football history.

Former Panthers QB Kenny Pickett remains in the city as starter for the Steelers. Famous NFL names Dan Marino, Larry Fitzgerald, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka and Damar Hamlin are products of the program, and CFL fans will remember former Pitt QB John Congemi.

Now, Veilleux has the chance to make a name for himself.

“There’s definitely been a lot of bumps on the road,” he said. “A lot of downs, lot of ups. But it’s all a part of the journey and all a part of what makes me who I am.”

Around the NCAA

Veilleux wasn’t the only Canadian to have a big week in the NCAA ranks.

Stanford wide receiver Elic Ayomanor of Medicine Hat, Alta., had 13 catches for 294 yards and three touchdowns in a 46-43 double-overtime win over coach Deion Sanders and Colorado. The performance included one catch that went viral.

Meanwhile, Penn State tight end Theo Johnson of Windsor, Ont., hauled in two touchdown passes in a 63-0 win over Massachusetts. Penn State is at Ohio State in the game of the week on Saturday.

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