Eli Holstein and Kenny Johnson just missed on a deep ball in practice last week. But Holstein has complete faith in Johnson, so when the opportunity arose early in the season opener, he didn’t hesitate to try again.
Kent State cornerback Naim Muhammad didn’t press Johnson off the line. Maybe he should have.
“I was lined up to the field, singled out, and I saw the corner was off,” Johnson said Tuesday after practice. “But he was kind of flat-footed. And in practice, we had a go ball in skelly, in practice on Wednesday that we just missed. It was literally the same exact scenario, and I told him, I said, ‘In the game, we’re going to hit this and I’m not stopping, I’m going.’ Eli threw a beautiful ball; he made it easy on me.”
Holstein stepped up early in the first quarter, knew Johnson was one-on-one with Muhammad and just lofted the ball up. He knows Johnson can run. He just wanted to give his wideout a chance to make a play.
Johnson certainly made a play. The 46-yard connection set up the first Pitt touchdown of the 2024-25 season.
Johnson hauled in seven receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown against Kent State. He hauled in 15 receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown in 12 games last season.
Johnson was targeted seven times against Kent State and hauled in all seven targets — including both of his contested catch opportunities, according to PFF. He operated mainly out wide and did the majority of his damage catching the ball deep downfield.
Holstein competed two balls over 20 yards against Kent State; Johnson caught them both.
But he was targeted everywhere. Two deep downfield (20+ yards), two in the intermediate range, two short of the sticks and one behind the line of scrimmage. The old coaching staff didn’t know how to utilize him; it doesn’t appear as though Kade Bell will have that problem.
Bell has built something new in Pittsburgh. It’s completely unlike the previous offensive system, and while change isn’t always required, it was this time. It didn’t work under Frank Cignetti Jr. It’s early, but if those early returns are any indication, Johnson and the wide receivers — the offense as a whole — are in for an entirely new experience.
“We practice really hard,” Johnson said. “Like, really, really, really, really hard. So, the game was easy. We were out there just playing. So, I’m not gonna say we didn’t buy in at first, but it was kind of like, ‘(Bell is) new, is everything gonna work?’ Once we started drinking the Kool-Aid and practiced hard and did everything the right way so that on game day it was easy, it was so fun out there.”
Pitt scored 55 points and racked up 570 yards against Kent State — neither mark has been hit since the 2021 season. Holstein, on the way to earning ACC Rookie of the Week honors, threw for 336 yards. Another mark that hasn’t been hit since Kenny Pickett was starring at quarterback.
And Holstein posted a perfect 158.3 passer rating when targeting Johnson.
Probably shouldn’t make any comparisons between Holstein/Johnson and Pickett/Jordan Addison yet; that’s unfair. But there’s a bonafide connection between the second-years that has been growing since Holstein arrived. There have been a lot of late nights at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
“Me and Eli worked a lot out of practice,” Johnson said. “Especially when he first got here, we were throwing all the time. The dude is a pro. When I think of a pro, he’s a pro. He had routes he planned to run, so we built that connection throughout. We’d spot out and stuff even when my legs were messed up, so we just kept building that connection. It’s really just trust.”
That trust isn’t just a key factor for Holstein and Johnson but the offense as a whole. The new scheme is rhythm-based, with a whole lot of tempo, and if the quarterback can’t trust his wide receivers to be where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there, it isn’t going to work.
That trust was evident on the 46-yard gain, and it was reinforced when Holstein threw a fade to Johnson in the back corner of the end zone late in the third quarter. A picture-perfect play.
“It was a beautiful ball,” Johnson said. “You can’t coach a ball better than that — like running to it, to the spot, perfect spot. It was a beautiful ball.”
It was one of seven catches for Johnson — 10 of his 105 yards. He was the only Pitt player to cross the 100-yard mark, but four more players made an impact through the air. And Johnson is confident in the ability of the Pitt receiving corps — and the tight ends — to make a consistent impact.
“It meant a lot, but really just looking past that because we’ve got a lot of games this year that are huge games and honestly, we had a lot of guys that could’ve went for 100,” Johnson said. “We got some dudes, we got some guys that are real playmakers, so I really think we’re gonna have a lot of 100-yard games this season.”
Johnson has one of those 100-yard games. And it’s a good bet that he isn’t done racking up 100-yard performances.
Yes, I think it’s safe to add “underutilized Kenny Johnson” to the list of reasons Cignetti stunk.
Our good tight end also was under utilized last year. Believe he caught five passes last week which is refreshing.