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Three weeks into the season, Pitt has already matched its win total from last year. The Panthers are 3-0 with 2 of the wins coming against power conference opponents.
But even after Saturday’s thrilling 38-34 victory against rival West Virginia in the traditional Backyard Brawl, we still don’t know a lot about Pat Narduzzi’s team.
One thing that’s definitely not in doubt is the fact that these Panthers are never out of a game. No matter how they’re behind in the 2nd half.
Last week at Cincinnati, they roared back from a 21-point deficit to stun the Bearcats on a 35-yard Ben Sauls field goal with 17 seconds remaining.
Their latest comeback wasn’t as large. But it was even more dramatic.
Things looked bleak when the Mountaineers scored a touchdown with just under 5 minutes remaining to put Pitt in a 34-24 hole. But just as he did 8 days earlier, freshman quarterback Eli Holstein rallied his offense and got the job done.
The redshirt freshman from Alabama got his team back within 1 score by hitting Daejon Reynolds for a 40-yard score with 3:06 remaining. Then after the defense held, he drove the Panthers 77 yards on 6 plays for the winning touchdown, scored on a 1-yard run by Derrick Davis, with just 32 seconds left.
Holstein, who was the surprise opening week starter over incumbent Nate Yarnell, had another big game, throwing for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was also Pitt’s leading rusher with 59 yards on the ground.
As luck would have it, though, he wasn’t on the field for the go-ahead score. After getting his helmet knocked off on the previous play, he watched from the sideline as Yarnell handed off to Davis.
With a game against FCS Youngstown State next week and an open date the following week, it’s doubtful we’ll get an accurate read on how good the Panthers really are until Oct. 5 at North Carolina.
But they’re off to a promising start.
Besides Pitt’s penchant for comebacks, here’s what else we learned about the ACC in Week 3:
Triangle quarterback shuffle
Quarterback play was an issue for NC State and North Carolina during the first 2 weeks of the season. And the situation got even more complicated for both neighboring rivals Saturday.
Each won, with the Wolfpack rallying with a strong 2nd half to take down Louisiana Tech 30-20 and the Tar Heels putting a 45-10 hurting on FCS foe NC Central. Neither, however, finished their game with the same quarterback who started it.
Injury forced the issue in Raleigh, with CJ Bailey being pressed into service to replace starter Grayson McCall. Coach Dave Doeren didn’t provide any details on the nature or severity of McCall’s physical problem. But if the Coastal Carolina transfer is healthy enough to be available for next week’s game at Clemson, Doeren will be the one with the problem.
Does he trust a true freshman (Bailey) enough to start in the hostile environment of Death Valley?
Bailey made a strong case for the opportunity by going 13-of-20 for 156 yards and a rushing touchdown. More important, he came in with his team trailing and helped turn a 17-6 halftime deficit into a win by leading the Wolfpack to 3 touchdowns.
About 30 miles away in Chapel Hill, Mack Brown also has a decision to make. After watching Conner Harrell complete only 2-of-6 passes while leading the Tar Heels to just 20 yards on their first 2 possessions, he gave Arkansas transfer Jacolby Criswell a shot at showing what he can do.
It was a planned move, according to the Hall of Fame coach.
“We decided during the week that we were going to put Jacolby in during the 3rd series regardless,” Brown said afterward. “He took it right down and scored and we weren’t going to take him out.”
Criswell completed 14-of-23 passes for 161 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. As a team, the Tar Heels rolled up 513 yards of total offense. It seems almost certain that Criswell, who is back at UNC after spending last season at Arkansas, will get the nod next week against James Madison. If he does, he’ll be the 3rd starting quarterback in the first 4 games. Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson suffered a season-ending leg injury in an opening night win at Minnesota.
Self-destructing Noles
Florida State’s 0-3 start is making the College Football Playoff Committee’s decision to keep it out of last year’s 4-team bracket is starting to become more understandable with each passing game. Jordan Travis really was that indispensable.
There’s proof in the numbers. Even with the star quarterback sidelined with a broken leg for the final 2 games – an ACC Championship win against Louisville and a blowout loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl – the Seminoles still led the ACC in scoring at 34.6 points per game while averaging better than 400 yards.
Through the first 3 games this season, FSU has gone from 1st to worst. Its 15.3 ppg average ranks 17th in a 17-team conference. Its 274 yards per game is also at the bottom of the league while they’re next-to-last in 3rd-down conversions.
A lot of the blame has been placed on the shoulders of Travis’ replacement DJ Uiagalelei. And rightly so. The transfer quarterback from Oregon State and Clemson has struggled to find any kind of rhythm since joining the Seminoles. Especially when it comes to throwing the ball downfield.
Either he’s not able to make the throws or coach Mike Norvell doesn’t trust him to do it. Other than a 67-yard strike to Malik Benson early in the 3rd quarter in Saturday’s loss to Memphis, everything else he threw was a dink or dunk. His first 5 completions accounted for only 9 yards. He also had an interception. He finished the game averaging just 6.5 yards per pass.
But DJU had plenty of help. In addition to rushing for only 37 yards thanks to an ineffective offensive line that also allowed 4 sacks, FSU also lost a fumble, muffed a punt into a turnover and helped Memphis extend drives by committing careless penalties. At 0-3 with the toughest part of their schedule still to come, the Seminoles are in serious danger of missing out on the entire postseason this year. Not just the Playoff.
Hokies wakeup call?
There are halftime talks. And then there is the halftime talk Brent Pry gave Virginia Tech on Saturday. Whatever the fiery coach said to his team after 30 minutes at Old Dominion, it struck just the right chord.
And just maybe served as a wakeup call for his slow-starting team.
Even after jumping out to a quick 2-touchdown lead, Pry’s Hokies looked to be in danger of a 3rd straight loss on their in-state rival’s home field in Norfolk. The Monarchs scored 10 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter and trailed only 14-10.
But Tech was a different team after the break. They scored the next 23 points and outgained the Monarchs by a whopping 114-0 margin in the 3rd quarter.
The balance was even more encouraging. Quarterback Kyron Drones threw for 176 yards and ran for 117 more while accounting for a pair of touchdowns. Bhayshul Tuten added 115 yards and 2 scores on the ground while Jaylin Lane put up 106 receiving yards.
That’s more like what was expected of an offense that was one of the ACC’s most explosive during the second half of last season. After a spotty performance in an opening week loss at Vanderbilt, it couldn’t have emerged at a better time with Rutgers on the schedule next week before opening ACC play at Miami.
Who says Cal doesn’t have any fans?
Not only do the Bears have fans, they’re so fired up about their team’s entry into the ACC and first 3-0 start in 5 years that they made their presence known during Saturday’s late-night 31-10 win against newly-minted “Pac-12” addition San Diego State.
The student section, in particular, got so rowdy that coach Justin Wilcox had to borrow the referee’s microphone to warn it to tone its support down a notch. It came after the officials’ warnings were disregarded and Cal was assessed a pair of 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for fans throwing cards used in a card stunt onto the field.
“Fans, we love you. Stop throwing the cards on the field,” Wilcox told the crowd. “That’s 2 15-yard penalties. Please stop throwing the cards on the field.”
Asked about the incident in an interview with the Bears’ radio network after the game, Wilcox said that everyone associated with his program needs to “learn how to win.” The fans weren’t the only ones needing a lesson. Their team made things difficult on itself by allowing 6 sacks, committing 10 penalties of its own and going 0-for-3 on 4th-and-short situations.
Cal plays its inaugural ACC conference game next Saturday at Florida State.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
