Pitt Perspectives: Thoughts Following Pitt’s 34-24 Win At UNC

What a difference a year has made for the state of Pitt Panther football.

A year after disastrous and embarrassing 2023 season, it’s hard for even their biggest critics to find something to complain about.

How could they?

Pitt is ranked in both national polls, are one of only 12 undefeated FBS teams, are being mentioned in conversation for the 12 team college football playoffs, have one of the most exciting and productive offenses in college football and have a superstar at quarterback and he’s only a FRESHMAN!

Here are some other thoughts following Pitt’s 34-24 win over North Carolina.

Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein (10) September 14, 2024. Michael Longo/PSN

ENJOY ELI HOLSTEIN

Speaking of quarterback, some friendly advice for Pitt fans- enjoy Eli Holstein. I realize you’re conditioned to look at things as the glass being half empty but don’t do that with Holstein. Stop with the talk of Pitt not being able to afford him after this season and he’ll transfer to another program. That’s not happening.

Why would it? First off, he’ll be compensated by the people at Pitt. Second, why would he leave a system and a coordinator that he’s perfectly suited for? The Kade Bell offense has allowed him to showcase his talents and to potentially make a lot of money in the NFL.

Pitt is a perfect fit for Holstein, and he’ll be their quarterback in 2025.

ONE OF THE BEST QBS IN COLLEGE

It’s crazy to think that aside from a handful or two of teams, Pitt has one of the best quarterbacks in all of college football. It’s even crazier that Holstein is only a freshman.

How bad do you think teams like Michigan, Florida State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, etc would love to have Holstein?

HOLSTEIN WILL BOOST PITT IN TRANSFER PORTAL

One other thing about No. 10, having him for a couple more years and him being an elite player, Pitt is going to be able to attract skill players (either in high school or the transfer portal) that want to come play with him.

What skilled wide receiver or tight end wouldn’t want him throwing them the ball? It’s now up to the Pitt coaches to use him as a recruiting tool.

Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein against North Carolina.

RETURN OF SEAN FITZSIMMONS

Aside from the win itself, arguably the most encouraging thing to come from Saturday’s game was the performance of defensive tackle Sean FitzSimmons.

Injuries have slowed FitzSimmons down the past couple of seasons but he’s healthy now and was the Panthers best defensive lineman against UNC.

Playing a career-high 40 snaps, the Central Valley grad was a terror in the Tar Heels backfield, which is something Pitt hasn’t gotten this season from their defensive tackles.

If FitzSimmons can stay healthy and perform at this level, it would be a huge boost to the Pitt defense.

Pittsburgh Panthers defensive lineman Sean FitzSimmons (55) October 8, 2022 David Hague/PSN

PITT’S SECONDARY TO BE TESTED

Speaking of Pitt’s defense, their secondary will be tested over the next 3 games against California’s Fernando Mendoza, Syracuse’s Kyle McCord and SMU’s Kevin Jennings.

I mentioned the secondary, but the play of defensive line goes hand in hand with the performance of the secondary. If the young defensive ends are able to get pressure on the quarterbacks, that will make Pitt’s secondary a lot better.

They’re young but guys like Sincere Edwards, Jimmy Scott, Nick James, Francis Brewu, Isaiah Neal, etc. will be huge factors in Pitt’s second half push. It’s only been five games, but Edwards and Neal have shown flashes of being the next elite players to come from Pitt’s defensive line. I think Edwards can be really, really good.

Photo courtesy of Francis Brewu’s Twitter account.

CREDIT TO PITT’S WIDE RECEIVERS

Holstein and Bell have received all the headlines this season but let’s give some credit to Pitt’s group of wide receivers.

Let’s be honest, over the past couple seasons, this position has performed below average and haven’t been reliable.

Of course, their quarterback played a role in this, but they deserve criticism as well. Wherever you want to lay the blame, the bottom line is that Pitt’s wide receivers weren’t close to being good enough.

Fortunately, that hasn’t been the case this season as the collective results from this position has been tremendous.

It’s been a real group effort as Konata Mumpfield, Kenny Johnson, CJ Lee, Raphael Williams and Daejon Reynolds have been both productive and reliable. It seems as though every game; a different player has stepped up. The exciting thing about this is that aside from Mumpfield, all of these players are scheduled to return in 2025, plus Pitt has other young receivers on the depth chart that haven’t gotten on the field yet.

SECOND HALF STRETCH

Pitt currently sits with a record of 5-0 so let’s take a look at what’s ahead and who the biggest challenges could be?

Although it won’t be easy, I like Pitt’s chances to beat California and improve to 6-0. After that, Pat Narduzzi’s team will take on Syracuse, SMU and Virginia. In my opinion, the biggest challenge will be Syracuse because of what they have at their skill positions. However, the good news for Pitt is that if they get by California, they’ll have a bye week in order to prepare and get healthy for Syracuse on Thursday night. I think asking for a 9-0 start would be a bit much, but as things currently stand, I can realistically see starting this season 8-1 heading into the Clemson game on November 16th.

If that’s what ends up happening, that matchup against Dabo Swinney’s team could very well be for ACC Championship game implications.

A lot has to happen first for that to happen, but man has the conversation changed from what it was one year ago at this time.