Pitt, Holstein put it all together against overmatched Youngstown State

Pitt's offensive performance at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday could've been the product of going against an FCS team amid a down year. It also could've been a sign that the Panthers' offense had fully arrived to put together a complete performance. Either way, it was impressive.

On the way to its 73-17 victory over Youngstown State, Pitt put up 644 yards of total offense, which is tied for the fifth most in program history, as Eli Holstein completed 16 of his 24 pass attempts for 247 yards and three touchdowns while adding nine carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns. It was the most rushing yards by a Pitt quarterback since Chad Voytik ran for 118 against Virginia Tech in 2014. 

Holstein was accompanied by a big day from sixth-year senior Daniel Carter, who rushed seven times for 109 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Nate Yarnell.

Pitt scored on its first six drives of the game and finished 10 of its 11 drives by putting points on the scoreboard. The Panthers also scored more points than plays ran as they snapped the ball 61 times on offense, which meant the offense finally accomplished its goal.

"We finally executed," Holstein said. "We still left some points out there, I feel like, but it's pretty nice when you can score in one play, or score in two plays. That helps that ratio out big time."

On four of Pitt's first six scoring drives, the offense scored in five plays or less. On three different occasions, they scored in two plays or less. On both drives where Pitt scored on two plays, Carter was the one that found the end zone. He first hit pay dirt from 24 yards out, setting a new career-long rushing touchdown mark. He reset that milestone midway through the second quarter when he scampered 43 yards for the score.

Then, with about a minute and 30 seconds left in the first half, Holstein hit Censere Lee down the left sideline for an 82-yard strike that gave the Panthers a 42-10 lead. It was the longest touchdown catch of Lee's career and the longest touchdown pass of Holstein's. Just watch:

It was the perfect example of Pitt's offensive success on this day as they seemed to be able to score at will. Whatever they did seemed to work and they didn't run into any problems or commit any crucial errors like they've done through the first three weeks of the season.

"It's great when you feel like no matter what you call it's going to work," Holstein said. "It's a great feeling as a quarterback, as an offense, I'm sure coach (Kade) Bell liked that feeling too. When you can go, ya know, get the ball on our own 18 and first play we score an 82-yard touchdown. You get the look that you want, the guys execute the way they need to execute and you get a big play like that, it's a great feeling." 

They were able to score in multiple ways too. Their first offensive drive was executed to the tune of 11 plays that covered 75 yards in 3:30 and concluded with a six-yard pass to Poppi Williams. Their third drive lasted seven plays and Holstein capped it off himself with a two-yard run which came after a 35-yard pass to Williams and a roughing the passer penalty put Pitt on Youngstown State's two-yard line.

"That's the way we scripted that win today," Pat Narduzzi said after the game. "Talked to our guys just about the attitude we take and making a statement in regards to who we played. We wanted to put the foot to the pedal and show who we are."

It was a complete team effort. Holstein was only sacked once, which he took the blame for, and 11 different receivers caught passes. Lee led the way with 108 receiving yards on four catches while Williams caught four passes for 71 yards. Konata Mumpfield tallied four catches for 60 yards and Kenny Johnson recorded three receptions for 18 yards and a touchdown.

However, it seemed as though the biggest difference on this day was Holstein consistently using his legs to pick up big chunks of yards to move the sticks and put the offense in the best position possible. On multiple occasions, the redshirt freshman seemed more inclined to pull the ball down and run compared to the previous three games of the year. Of his nine attempts, four went for nine yards or more, including gains of 32 and 49 yards, and two were touchdown runs.

When Pitt's signal-caller makes those types of decisions consistently, Pitt's offense operates at a whole-new level and Holstein is starting to understand that.

"Before we break it down and get ready to go play football, coach Bell tells us we're Steph Curry, we're out there to facilitate the ball when the shot is there, we have to take it," Holstein said. "When that run is there, I gotta take it. So I took off and ran and kept the chains moving and got the offense moving as well."

Pitt's most complete offensive performance came in a game where there could've been a letdown after two come-from-behind victories the past two weeks. But, the Panthers also haven't had great luck against Youngstown State in the past. In program history, Pitt is 21-1 against FCS teams and its only loss came against the Penguins in 2012. Then, in 2015, Narduzzi's first game as Pitt's head coach, YSU gave the Panthers a run in a 45-37 contest. Youngstown State also took Pitt into overtime in 2017.

So when it came to this week's matchup, Narduzzi, whose late father, Bill, was the head coach at Youngstown State from 1975-85, challenged his team in an attempt to avoid any type of "trap" game or mental letdown.

"I was proud of the way those guys went out there and played," Narduzzi said. "I asked them on Tuesday to go get one for my dad out there. Just try to make it personal. They took the challenge and went out there and tattooed them pretty good. My dad would be fired up as he was watching up there."

Now it's on to ACC play as the Panthers will head to North Carolina on Oct. 5 to take on the Tar Heels and Narduzzi said while a high-scoring win like this gives his team confidence, there's a lot to build on.

"It was nice to have kind of a breather here and just explode out. It gives our kids confidence," Narduzzi said. "They know what they've got. They still know there's a lot of things we can clean up and make better."

THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Team feed
• Top 25 scores
• ACC scores
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE SCHEDULE
Pitt (4-0, 0-0) is off this week. They'll travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. on Oct. 5 to take on North Carolina (3-1, 0-0 ACC) and open up ACC play.

THE CONTENT
• Visit our team feed for more information from Saturday's matchup.