During the opening 15 minutes of Pitt’s Saturday afternoon contest vs. Louisville, the Panthers played like a team that had turned a corner and made significant strides from the last time it took the field.
But over the ensuing three quarters at Acrisure Stadium, shaky quarterback play, two double-digit leads surrendered, more mental miscues and another winnable game blown did little to inspire confidence in Pitt’s long-term prospects.
Following a 34-27 loss, major questions are emerging as to Pitt’s (2-2) ability to right the ship and get back on track.
QB competition looming?
Coach Pat Narduzzi’s Monday and Thursday afternoon press conferences next week will likely reveal more details as to the Panthers’ quarterback situation.
But Eli Holstein can’t be feeling totally secure as the starter, even with Narduzzi still indicating that’s the case in his postgame press conference Saturday.
After all, Narduzzi yanked him in favor of Cole Gonzales with about seven minutes to play and Pitt trailing by a touchdown.
Granted, Gonzales didn’t provide the desired spark.
While he threw two touchdowns against the Cardinals and had nice completions of 56, 38 and 36 yards, Holstein threw two more interceptions to give him five through the season’s first four games.
On the day, he was 14 of 26 for 228 yards, posting a sub-60% completion rate for the second straight game.
“We’ll go into next week,” Narduzzi said. “I still say Eli is our starting quarterback. That’s what it is. Threw two picks in the second half. It’s tough. … I think any time a quarterback throws two picks it gets in his head. We’re playing to win. (By putting Gonzales in, I) just wanted to see if we can get a spark.”
Holstein has thrown at least one interception in every game this season.
Most alarming is the timing of the turnovers — three of his five interceptions have come in the red zone.
Versus both Duquesne and West Virginia, Holstein was picked off in the end zone with Pitt threatening to score, and on Saturday, he was intercepted at the 2-yard line one play after hitting Blue Hicks for a 56-yard gain.
“They’re all concerning down in the red zone,” Narduzzi said. “When you’re in scoring position, you can’t turn the ball over. It’s simple. We’ve got to be better. (Offensive coordinator) Kade (Bell) has got to be better. And the quarterback’s got to play better.”
Gonzales, playing the final 6:51 of the game, also threw an interception in the final seconds of the game, but also led Pitt to its first and only third-down conversion of the afternoon.
With Holstein, Pitt went 0 for 9 on third down. Only with 5:11 to play did the Panthers finally convert one, as Gonzales hit Poppi Williams for a 14-yard gain on third-and-7.
“It’s bad, awful,” Narduzzi said of the third-down woes. “Third down, we’ve got to be better. We practice a lot of third down. I don’t get it. We’ll look at the videotape. I’ll probably have more answers for you on Monday. But we didn’t execute well.”
Life without Reid
Desmond Reid warmed up Saturday and even put on full pads pregame but was ruled out.
However, Narduzzi said the All-American tailback, injured during the first quarter Sept. 13 at West Virginia, was “close” to playing.
That should indicate Reid is back at it Oct. 4 when Pitt hosts Boston College.
In the meantime, the Panthers have been forced to reckon with the void Reid’s absence creates on offense.
Redshirt freshman Juelz Goff and true freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner have attempted to step up with Reid missing the better part of the last two games, but Pitt’s run game has still suffered.
After Reid went down vs. West Virginia, Goff rushed eight times for 38 yards, while Saturday, Goff and Turner combined for 68 yards on 13 carries.
Through the air, a facet of the game in which Reid excels, Goff made two grabs for 12 yards while Turner bungled a catch on a fourth-quarter fourth-and-7 from Louisville’s 39-yard line.
To be sure, run game volume has also been low, which is not the fault of either Goff or Turner.
The frequency with which Pitt ran the ball Saturday was something Narduzzi pondered soon after the clocks read all zeros.
“I don’t know if we ran it enough,” Narduzzi said. “I’ll look at the tape. I thought we did have some good runs in there … but you put yourself behind the sticks, put yourself in third-and-long, instead of third-and-medium or third-and-short (and) you’ll have problems.”
More injuries
While things are looking up for Reid to be back soon, the same cannot be said of starting left guard Keith Gouveia, who left Saturday’s loss to Louisville after suffering what appeared to be a serious right leg injury.
Gouveia went down in the third quarter quarter following a Holstein rush and had to be carted off the field, with a temporary cast seen on his leg.
Narduzzi did not offer an update on the Richmond transfer postgame.
In his place, Ryan Carretta subbed in at left guard, although Jackson Brown was listed as the backup left guard on Pitt’s weekly two-deep.
“Obviously, it sucks to see a player go down on your team, especially someone at your position that you put in the work with since spring,” tackle Ryan Baer said. “Something like that, watching him get carted off — there’s a lot of emotions. You want to win that game for him. We couldn’t pull it out, but we texted him, asking if he’s OK and that we love him.”
Safety Javon McIntyre also left the game Saturday, replaced by Kavir Bains-Marquez in the first quarter.
Pitt also played without starting corner Tamon Lynum for the second straight week.
McIntyre returned to the game on the punt unit, but Bains-Marquez, along with true freshman Allen Bryant, handled free safety duties for the majority of the afternoon.
“Our defense played a lot of reps,” Narduzzi said. “I thought our defense played solid. We’re pretty loose in coverage at times. Javon McIntyre being out didn’t help us any in the second half. We’ve got to make more plays.”