Pat Narduzzi officially named USC transfer Kedon Slovis as the Panthers’ starting quarterback for the 2022 season.

Slovis will lead Pitt vs. West Virginia in Game 1 on Sept. 1.

Slovis was the favorite to win the job, but Narduzzi insisted it wasn’t an easy choice. Slovis beat out Nick Patti, who spent the last 3 seasons as Kenny Pickett’s backup. He completed 14-of-19 passes for the Panthers last season.

“It wasn’t easy, but we came to that conclusion after a long time (of evaluation),” Narduzzi told reporters on Wednesday morning.

Narduzzi also said that “accuracy” was the biggest reason why Slovis won the job.

Slovis started in parts of 3 seasons for USC before deciding to transfer. He completed an impressive 68.4% of his passes for 7,576 yards and 58 touchdowns over that span.

He inherits a strong Pittsburgh football team that will be amongst the favorites to win the ACC again this season. The Panthers defeated Wake Forest in last season’s ACC Championship Game.

Replacing Pickett will be no easy task, as he was a Heisman Trophy finalist a year ago. His 12,303 passing yards are also the most in school history.

Pitt and WVU kick off at 7:00 p.m. ET on Sept. 1.