Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi has offered reassurances about Eli Holstein before, and they haven’t always been 100% accurate. So, with another injury against Virginia, Holstein’s status bears watching.
Holstein left midway through the third quarter in a loss to Virginia with an apparent head injury, taking a high, hard hit from Virginia linebacker Trey McDonald as Holstein slid on a second-and-4 conversion. McDonald was ejected for targeting, and Holstein — after being attended to on the field — went into the medical tent.
Holstein spent some time in the tent before heading to the locker room, missing the remainder of the game. Pat Narduzzi said Holstein seemed “okay” after the game.
“We don’t talk about injuries, but he seemed okay in the locker room,” Narduzzi said Saturday night.
Of course, Narduzzi said something similar after Holstein was knocked out of the game against Syracuse a couple of weeks ago. So, it bears watching. He was obviously rattled after taking the late hit.
He completed 10-of-23 pass attempts (43%) for 121 yards in the game. No touchdowns, no interceptions. And he benefited from some near misses as he attempted to make plays out of nothing. It’s an admirable trait until it hurts the team.
Holstein showed some signs of his old self, but he looked overwhelmed against Virginia. He skipped screen passes across the turf, missed Konata Mumpfield running over the middle of the field a couple of times and just looked rattled. He’s looked rattled for weeks, and for whatever reason, the Pitt coaching staff hasn’t been able to settle him down.
It was particularly disappointing against Virginia — a Cavaliers pass defense that entered the night 126th in passing defense nationally.
“It starts with coaching,” Narduzzi said. “It starts with our offensive staff, our head coach, me, and we have just got to get better play. It wasn’t good enough overall. It’s not just quarterback, it’s everybody involved. We had way too many dropped passes out there today. So, it’s hard to get in rhythm when you’re not catching the ball like we had all year. And that’s our job to catch balls. It’s our job to get them to catch balls. We’ve got to do a better job in ball drills and catching the ball and making plays.”
Holstein has so much talent, as he’s shown this season, but he looks like a quarterback who doesn’t have any confidence in his play right now. And it’s the second time in three games that he’s left with an injury, but Narduzzi recognizes that Holstein is adept in using his legs to pick up yards.
“He’s got to make plays,” Narduzzi said. “It was obviously a late hit, a targeting call. You hope you don’t have that. But it’s the game of football, and you have to — he’s going to run it. You saw him run out of bounds early. You saw him slide. He’s trying to take care of his body, and he’s pretty smart at that.”
Pitt is back in action against No. 23 Clemson next Saturday, a noon kickoff at Acrisure Stadium. Eli Holstein is very likely a question mark at this time.
I think Holstein unfortunately looks lost. The Oline and receivers are not helping him one bit. This also has not helped Reid as defenses have pretty much bottled him up. All the close wins in the first half of the season are starting to even out the second half. In the off season they desperately need to upgrade the oline and find at least one or two more quality receivers. Even though they over exceeded expectations, I honestly don’t see them winning another game this season. Too many holes to fill. Hopefully I am wrong, but Clemson and Louisville will… Read more »
I just posted the same comment – I completely agree with you position. The adder is that I believe the biggest issue is the Branson Taylor injury on the O-Line, they are lost without him. I also said they finish 7-5.
It is somewhat of a shock to see this level of dropoff. Has to be due primarily to 2 things and most likely more of the first one … 1) increase in talent level of the competition (players and coaches) and 2) changes to Pitt’s offensive personnel (i.e., mostly injuries).
Unlikely that improvements can be made at this stage of the season. We may need to get prepared for 1 or 2 more losses.
H2P !
Anyone knows the song “Let’s Hear It For the Losers?” Coach Narduzzi knows this song and sings it everyday.
7-2
Holstein is a good quarterback needing development. Unfortunately we have a pathetic offensive coordinator. I appreciate that coach Narduzzi fired Cignetti. But I think he missed on the Cade Bell hire. From what I have see, Bell is not a good teacher or a leader.
You’re way off base. Go learn some football
In SMU they faced a team that has perhaps the best east – west speed that PITT will play this year. No doubt Pitt’s confidence was shaken after that game. SMU ‘s qb had something to prove after the 6 turnovers against Duke. Virginia got blown out by NC, partly because the center was injured during the game. As also seen on game film. PITT may have been a bit overconfident heading into VA. Since Cal Pitt’s offense has looked well. The teams have better defenses. Pitt’s offense needs to make adjustments. Perhaps some plays out of a I formation… Read more »
Best comment on here.