North Carolina coach Mack Brown, in essence, needed two words to sum up the difference Saturday in the Tar Heels’ 34-24 loss to Pittsburgh. “Their quarterback,” Brown said. What Brown would like to be able to say, at some point this season, after a win, is, “ quarterback.
” In Saturday’s game at Kenan Stadium, it was all about Pitt’s Eli Holstein. He’s a redshirt freshman, but he’s a big man who has a lot of game, a mature game. Holstein passed for three touchdowns against the Heels.
He ran for a fourth. When the undefeated Panthers (5-0, 1-0 ACC) needed a clutch play, he made it. His final stats: 25-of-42 passing for 381 yards and a team-high 76 yards rushing.
Holstein’s 72-yard pass to running back Desmond Reid set up one TD, and a 46-yarder to Konata Mumpfield — the senior wideout diving between three defensive backs to make the grab at the UNC 1 — set up another. “I’m amazed how poised he was,” Brown said. “He just came from nowhere.
He was the fifth quarterback at Alabama, which shows you how good Alabama is. He’s changed who they are, completely.” Under coach Pat Narduzzi, the Panthers have played a smashmouth defensive style and had a solid kicking game.
Narduzzi did have Kenny Pickett at quarterback, winning the ACC championship in 2021, but has won games more the old-fashioned way than in EA Sports College Football shootout fashion. But Holstein, a 6-4, 225-pounder not lacking quickness, has added a new dynamic to Pitt football. The.
