PITTSBURGH — Trailing by 10 and the clock dwindling, there was no panic on the Pittsburgh sideline. No nervousness. No anxiety.
Given the way Eli Holstein is playing, why would there be?
Twice in eight days, the Panthers have been down big late to a longtime rival. And twice in eight days, the quarterback who is a redshirt freshman in name only put together the kind of comeback that has quickly turned a season that began with uncertainty into one suddenly brimming with promise.
Holstein guided a pair of late touchdown drives, hitting Daejon Reynolds with a 40-yard scoring heave with 3:06 to go then taking Pitt 77 yards in six plays, the last a 1-yard dive by Derrick Davis with 32 seconds to go to lift the Panthers to a stirring 38-34 victory over West Virginia in the 107th Backyard Brawl on Saturday.
“Eli’s done an incredible job,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “When he needs to make a play, he makes a play.”
In all kinds of ways.
Holstein threw for 301 yards and three scores and added another 59 yards on the ground, a number that would have been higher if not for five sacks that counted against his total.
The victory was Pitt’s second in three tries against the Mountaineers since a series that dates back to 1895 was revived in 2022. It also marked a second stunning Holstein-led rally in as many weeks.
Pitt trailed by 21 late in the third quarter at Cincinnati before storming back to win by one. The stakes were even higher at a packed Acrisure Stadium and things looked considerably bleaker against the Mountaineers after WVU’s Garrett Greene found Justin Robinson for a 28-yard touchdown with 4:55 to play that put the Mountaineers up 34-24.
Yet on the Panther sideline, the message from the team’s leadership group was simple: get the ball to Holstein and let him go to work.
“He’s a freshman?” senior linebacker Brandon George joked. “He shows a great amount of leadership. That’s something you don’t often see from a freshman quarterback … I’ll ride through hell for that guy.”
Holstein deflected the praise to his teammates, including Reynolds, who hadn’t been targeted through nearly 12 full quarters this season until Holstein let it fly with Pitt facing 2nd-and-30 at the WVU 40 following a pair of holding penalties.
The 6-foot-2 Reynolds was draped by a defender and flags flew. Holstein figured a pass interference call was coming — and it was — only the Panthers didn’t need to accept it, not with Reynolds cradling the ball in the end zone.
“That’s just a normal catch (for Reynolds),” Pitt wide receiver Kenny Johnson said. “He makes that catch 100 out of 100 times.”
The Panthers held the Mountaineers to a three-and-out and needed just six plays to set up Davis’ clinching dive.
WVU had one last chance but Greene’s final separation toss was picked off by Kyle Louis near midfield with 4 seconds to go to seal it.
“We were up with 5 minutes to go,” said Greene, who threw for 210 yards with two scores and two picks and also ran for 49 yards. “We shouldn’t lose games like that.”
The Mountaineers (1-2) committed a handful of self-inflicted wounds along the way. They had a long touchdown pass in the third quarter called back after being flagged for holding then subsequently gave up a blocked punt that George returned 24 yards for a score to Pitt up 24-17.
WVU reeled off the next 17 points and appeared to be firmly in control after Justin Robinson made a leaping one-handed grab at the goal line — with his other hand in the facemask of a Pitt player — only to see the Panthers steal their 63rd all-time victory over the Mountaineers with Holstein in the middle of it all.
“Eli’s not scared, he’s not hesitant,” Louis said. “He’s breaking three 300-pounders off his neck and running for 15 yards … He’s got that dog mentality.”
The takeaway
WVU: Neal Brown may have trouble backing up last year’s somewhat surprising 9-win campaign. The Mountaineers remain a work in progress on defense and the offense might not be potent enough to overcome it.
Pitt: Holstein has emphatically ended the Panthers’ search for a quarterback and a team that was picked to finish 13th in the expanded ACC looks as if it could be dangerous once conference play begins in October.
